In the development of drug test devices, a major contention continues to be the accuracy, specifity, sensitivity, and the evaluation of individual results, mostly under laboratory conditions [1, 2, 3]. In the Workpackage 4 of the ROSITA project [4] it has to be found out which of the tests meet the criteria set in the methodology and experimental design (testing and evaluation of the instruments, validity, equipment reliability, usability, and usage costs) especially for the purposes of the police for the use of test devices at the roadside. In order to realize this intend, the Saarland police could be enlisted to perform and assess the roadside drug tests. To establish general conditions to the cooperation between the Institute of Legal Medicine Homburg (ILMH) and the police within ROSITA, the Ministry of Interior of Saarland was asked for official support. On 25 June 1999, an official decree — based on the experiences of the police and on arrangements with the ILMH — was issued by the Ministry of Interior of Saarland addressing the three state traffic police departments (TPD, centre, east, west), in which the organisational and practical use of roadside devices within the ROSITA project was regulated. With this decree, it became possible to perform and evaluate the on-site tests directly at the roadside to prove the DUID within police traffic controls, analogue to the testing for alcohol. For that, the performance of ROSITA was not depending on voluntary help of the police, it was supported by an official order on an administrative basis. The role of the police as a partner of ILMH is defined by their competence for the evaluation of the handling and of the practicability of the test devices at the roadside; starting from the date mentioned above, the police officers were authorized to use drug test devices at the roadside on the occasion of traffic controls, for research purposes. In order take advantage of this, as much tests as possible were distributed to the police. The analytical evaluation of the roadside tests was done on basis of the obtained results of serum and/or urine analysis according to the legal requirements. Planning, organization and termination of traffic controls was incumbent on the TPD's within own responsibility. The field study of ROSITA lasted 14 months from June 1999 to August 2000. The project started to develop a self-dynamics, and instead of the intended (and budgetted) 200 samples, 604 samples were included into the ROSITA evaluation. The evaluation of the on-site tests has been finished now and the results considering the handling of the tests and their acceptance by the police officers are available. (Author/publisher) For more information see http://www.rosita.org/
Abstract