'Frightening' rise in drug-driving detections as number caught after taking cocaine trebles

Garda Sergeant Shane Henry, Traffic Corps Division, Dublin Castle, and actor Gavin Greene, pictured simulating a roadside preliminary drug test Picture: Robbie Reynolds

The sharp rise in motorists caught driving under the influence of cocaine has been described as “frightening” given the “bullet proof” effect of the drug on people.

Labour Party’s spokesperson on transport, Duncan Smith, said he was also particularly concerned at the high level of intoxication among drivers testing positive for alcohol.

He added that the figures published by the Medical Bureau of Road Safety show that almost nine out of ten of the offenders are male.

The bureau’s figures are contained in its 2020 annual report, detailed in the Irish Examiner today.

It reveals that the number of people caught driving after taking cocaine has almost trebled in the last two years.

The official agency tasked with conducting tests also said that half of the drivers whose blood was examined for alcohol were three times over the legal limit for experienced drivers.

The bureau’s annual report for 2020 shows that alcohol analysis of blood and urine samples taken from drivers rose by 23% in 2020.

There was a 39% increase in 2020 in drug toxicology analysis — which can check for the presence of cannabis, cocaine, benzodiazepines (tranquilisers), opiates, and amphetamines.

The bureau's figures reveal:

• Total number of tests detecting drugs almost doubled, from 2,649 in 2018 to 5,281 in 2020;
• Tests detecting cocaine almost trebled, from 535 in 2018 to 1,494 in 2020;
• Cannabis was present in 2,606 cases in 2020, compared to 1,034 in 2018;
• Opiates/Methadone was found in 453 cases in 2020, compared to 260 in 2018;
• Benzodiazepines were present in 535 cases in 2020, compared to 468 in 2018 (but benzodiazepines were not tested in April-May 2020 for where another drug was present);
• Amphetamines were found in 193 cases in 2020, compared to 82 in 2018.
• The steady year-on-year increase in the number of detections for cocaine … is notable and is clearly out of step with the trends for the other drugs,” said the report.

It also reveals that three-quarters of drivers tested for alcohol were two times over the legal limit (50mg/100 for experienced drivers) and that half were three times over.

Three out of 10 had taken four times (more than 200mg) the legal limit.

In his foreword, bureau director Professor Denis A Cusack said that despite the severe restrictions on movement, particularly in the first national lockdown between March and June 2020, resulting in a 70% reduction in traffic, there was an increase of 23% in the number of blood and urine samples received by the bureau.

Commenting on the report, Deputy Smith said: "The increase in alcohol and drug detection is a real cause for worry, in particular the increase in the number of higher-level intoxicants.” 

He said the notable increase in the detection of cocaine was another worry: “The impacts of this particular drug on people feeling arrogant and so-called "bullet proof" is frightening when considering these people are behind the wheel of a car.” What also struck him, he said, was the dominance of males in the figures: “The thing that stands out and must be noted is that to a huge degree, the majority of offenders are male, with 87% of specimens taken compared to 13% for women.

“Taken together we have an increasing problem of drink and drug driving, the responsibility of which is being driven by men."