The developing but still limited amount of research into drug driving in Australia research has generally been undertaken from a road safety orientation where drug driving is viewed within the broader context of driver behaviour. As a result little knowledge from the field and research discipline of substance use has been transposed into the drug driving area. Such a specific focus precludes the broader behavioural, contextual and cultural issues associated with substance use and in particular the major changes that have occurred over the last five to six years in the culture and incidence of drug use in the Australian population. The relationship between substance use and drug driving itself is an essential a key to understanding the behaviour and developing appropriate policy and interventions. This paper outlines the findings from a series of focused interviews with 211 illicit drug users to provide insights into the culture of drug driving from the user perspective. The paper identifies drug driving as a subset behaviour of drug use where drug driving was not necessarily viewed as deviant behaviour in itself but rather is an outcome of illicit substance use. Drug driving was not of concern for the substance user. In some instances interviewees saw their drug use as enhancing their driving skills and frequently the motor vehicle was viewed as a safe place to use. More alarmingly there was almost universal agreement among interviewees that the likelihood of being caught for drug driving by police was minimal and this perception was reinforced by past experience. Key issues associated with developing contextually appropriate interventions are (Author/publisher) For the covering abstract of the conference see ITRD Abstract No. E201067.
Abstract