Fifty years of research into the pharmacology and toxicology of drugs other than alcohol with reference to traffic safety.

This paper describes some but not all of the highlights in the pharmacology and toxicology of psychotropic substances and explains why future discussions on the use of drugs other than alcohol by drivers will be influenced by recent advances as they can presently be judged. The approach to fifty years of research will be based primarily on discussing the link between human brain and traffic safety and to describe the exciting world of psychopharmacology. This will help us to understand how the human brain under the influence of psychotropic substances is able to affect our behaviour and skills, especially those relating to driving, and thereby affect traffic safety. It is important to realise that recent advances in psychopharmacology will eventually guide us to new classes of drugs, which will be therapeutically superior to old psychotropic medicines because of their lack of unwanted side-effects such as dependence, amnesia and sedation.