Much progress has been made in the last 5 to 7 years in the field of the analytical detection of driving under the influence of drugs: roadside tests, optimal cut-offs and laboratory methods. The need for a roadside drug test is now well established. Urine onsite tests work well but the problem of obtaining a urine specimen at the roadside remains. The development of oral fluid tests has been slower than expected, with the sensitivity for tetrahydrocannabinol and adequate (volume and viscosity) sampling remaining the major problems. The proposed SAMHSA cut-offs for oral fluid seem also apllicable for driving under the influence of drugs. There has been little development of sweat tests. The analytical cut-offs used differ in European countries and Germany has recently decreased them. Analysis of drugs in blood has now become routine in many labs, either by GC-MS, but also by LC-MS, sometimes preceded by a screening by immunoassay. (Author/publisher)
Abstract