In Germany on 1st August 1998 Section 24a of the road traffic law was expanded so that any person who has certain drugs detected in blood is deemed to have committed a regulatory offense. It is, therefore, worthwhile to increase the detection and withdrawal of drivers under the influence of drugs by training police officers. In order to enable the police to recognize drivers under the influence of drugs, the "Drug Recognition in Road Traffic" training program was developed and made available to police academies. A one-week training course has been regularly held for high-ranking police officers' it is intended that they should then act as multipliers, passing on their knowledge to the lower ranking police officers. An indication of the success of the drug recognition program can be seen in the increase in blood samples sent by the police to toxicological institutes to be investigated for drugs. From Saarland, exact figures are available. In 1995, the number of blood samples after a road accident hardly increased. In 1998, the number of blood samples was 2.5 times as high as in 1997, and in 1999 the coming into force of the amended Section 24a of the road traffic law was also responsible for this trend. These figures are impressive proof that amendments in laws and training of the police can increase the number of detected drug journeys. Further studies are intended to investigate the extent to which these results also apply in other parts of Germany. (Author/publisher).
Samenvatting