Drink-driving in The Netherlands has dropped significantly since the mid-eighties. In 1983, 12% of car drivers during weekend-nights were over the legal BAC-limit of 0.5 g/l. In the first half of the 1990s, this proportion had dropped to around 4%. In the second half of the 1990s, the proportion of illegal BACs increased slightly, stabilising around 4.5%. But, while drink-driving decreased substantially, the problem of drug-driving seemed to be growing, especially among young males. In the 1997/1998 sample, 6.4% of all urine tests turned out to be positive for one or more impairing drugs; 1% for medicaments like codeine and benzodiazepines, and 5.4% for illegal drugs. Of the illegal drugs, three quarters consisted of cannabis. The remaining quarter consisted of hard drugs, mostly cocaine in combination with cannabis. Among the drivers who tested positive for drugs, 12% had an illegal BAC. So, drug-driving correlates positively with drink-driving.
Abstract