Drugs and Driving

Chapter Objectives

• Recognize different categories of drugs
• Understand the effects of drugs on driving
• Prevent driving while under the influence of drugs
• Manage the effects of medical conditions on driving abilities

Introduction

• A drug is any substance taken to achieve an altered physical or mental state, real or imagined.
• Drug use includes taking any amount of any type of drug under any condition, legal or illegal.
• Alcohol is a drug and there are other drugs commonly used in society.
• People consume caffeine in coffee and nicotine in tobacco, yet may not realize these are also drugs.
• Medications designed to improve health can interfere with driving ability.
• The chapter covers prescription medications and illegal drugs, as well as the effects of illness on driving.

Sources of Drugs

• Prescription, over the counter and illegal

Legal Drugs

• People commonly take legal drugs to address the causes or symptoms of health problems.
• Legal drugs include prescription and over-the-counter drugs, as well as alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine.
• Read labels carefully, especially before driving, as some drugs cause drowsiness or impair driving ability.
• Ask a pharmacist about a drug's effects, especially regarding driving abilities, including potential drug interactions.

Prescription Drugs

• A doctor's order includes directions for how to take a prescribed drug.
• Following directions limits dangerous side effects.
• Prescription drugs when used correctly are not harmless, and can hinder driving ability.
• Never use prescription drugs prescribed for other people.

Over-the-Counter Drugs

• These are available without a prescription.
• They include aspirin, cold pills, cough syrup, and sleep aids.
• Drug packaging provides directions for use and information about possible side effects.

Illegal Drugs

• These include illicit or "street" drugs; substances or prescription medications sold without approval from a doctor.
• Such drugs can be dangerous and may be mixed or substituted with other substances.

Drug Categories and Effects

• Several categories of drugs have specific effects; most act on the central nervous system (CNS).
• When using any drug, understand the risks and effects on driving.
• Drugs that impair driving ability may also impair the ability to judge the degree of impairment.
• Avoid drugs that interfere with activities, considering that many drugs have side effects and affect people/the same person differently each time.

Stimulants

• A stimulant is a drug that temporarily excites or accelerates the function of a vital process or organ, in particular the CNS.
• Examples include Adderall, Ritalin, amphetamines, cocaine, nicotine, and caffeine.
• Stimulants can cause drivers to feel very alert and high-energy but when they wear off, the CNS slows down quickly, causing drowsiness.

Depressants

• Depressant drugs generally work the opposite of stimulants; they slow down the CNS.
• Examples include alcohol, tranquilizers, barbiturates, and some sleep aids.
• The potential effects of depressants on driving include slowed perception, delayed decision-making, and reduced ability to control steering and speed.
• Depressants can also cause difficulty controlling following distance, lane control, and basic maneuvers.

Hallucinogens

• Hallucinogens are mind-altering drugs that distort the user's sense of reality.
• Examples include LSD, ecstasy/MDMA, and psilocybin/"magic" mushrooms.
• Hallucinogens can cause confusion, impaired judgment, panic, paranoia, and distorted sense of time, distance, and direction.
• Common driving errors include driver inattention, slow decision-making, delayed reaction times, and reduced ability to control speed and position.

Dissociative Anesthetics

• These drugs can make users feel disconnected from their own bodies, drowsy, dizzy, and/or a false sense of invincibility.
• Examples: PCP, dextromethorphan, and ketamine (Special K).
• Dissociative anesthetics can affect driving by slowing decision-making/perception, and lane maintenance.

Narcotic Analgesics/Opioids

• Narcotic analgesics/opioids are drugs prescribed to help reduce chronic and acute pain, such as morphine, heroin, codeine, Oxycodone, Fentanyl, and Demerol.
• These are very powerful drugs that can result in wide range of unwanted side effects, becoming incoherent/dizzy, nausea/vomiting.
• They also commonly lead to both physical and mental drug dependence, resulting in serious/painful withdrawal symptoms.
• Effects on driving abilities include slowed decision-making, difficulty perceiving traffic scenes, poor vehicle control, confusion, and delayed reaction time.

Inhalants

• These are vapor-based drugs inhaled into the body, such as fumes from paint, markers, nail polish, aerosol sprays, gasoline, and other chemical products.
• Inhalants can permanently damage the brain, kidneys, and liver, causing heart failure and death after only a single use.
• Affects driving abilities, including slowing decision-making and reaction time, reducing lane position maintenance and overall traffic scene perception.

Cannabis/THC

• Cannabis (marijuana) is a plant-based hallucinogenic drug that also can result in stimulant/depressant effects.
• The main active ingredient is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and its effects can vary based on strength, mode, mood, and experience.
• Users often become drowsy and have difficulty judging time, space, and speed of movement.
• Some users report concentrating on one thing at a time, ignoring all other objects.
• Alcohol is the most often detected drug in crash victims, while marijuana is the second-most involved substance.
• Marijuana is the most widely used drug among young people.
• Marijuana users commit more driving errors and are arrested more often for traffic violations than nonusers.
• Marijuana's greatest impact may be on a driver's ability to recognize and respond to dangerous situations.
• The drug also slows reaction time, impairs short-term memory, and affects lane position maintenance/process information.
• Marijuana's impact on driving is highest for new users and new drivers.
• Combining drugs and driving sharply increases the risk of a collision.
• Possessing a Medical Marijuana card does not make it safe to drive after consuming the drug.
• Anyone behind the wheel can be charged after consuming, medically permitted, prescribed, or otherwise.

Combining Drugs

• The effects of taking two or more drugs can result in a synergistic effect.
• It means that the combined effect is greater than the sum of the two effects separately.
• Combining drugs significantly increases the risk of harmful and unexpected effects.

Testing for Drug Use

• Police investigation suggests that a driver is impaired, a drug recognition expert (DRE) may become involved.
• A DRE is a trained police official to recognize the effects of drugs consuming multiple drugs.
• The presence of a specific drug can be revealed by examining the size of a driver's pupils.

Drug Use

• Drug use is widespread in the U.S., with over half of Americans regularly taking prescription medicine.
• Think carefully about the use of all drugs, legal/illegal, as prescription/over-the-counter drugs can cause drowsiness/slow reaction times.
• Take any drug requires caution, especially if you intend to drive.

Read labels and follow directions.

• Read label carefully before using medicine and take the directions seriously.
• Ask a doctor or pharmacist if there are questions.
• Check the medicine's expiration date.

Know a drug's effects.

• Ask a doctor or pharmacist if the drug may affect driving ability/possible side effects.

Avoid excessive drug use.

• Do not take drugs when they are not necessary, and never exceed the prescribed dosage.

Avoid dangerous drug combinations.

• Remember the synergistic effect and check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking more than one drug at a time.

Do not take someone else's medicine.

• A doctor prescribes a drug for a specific patient under a certain set of conditions.

Do not take illegal drugs.

• Avoid all illegal drugs and never underestimate the dangers of "gateway drugs."
• These can "open the gate" to drug problems, and one drug can lead to others/increased use.

Take responsibility.

• Know how any drug may affect alertness, judgment, vision, concentration, and coordination.

Alternatives to Drugs and Driving

• Never mix drugs and driving.
• Do not ride with a driver who is using drugs.
• Do not let your passengers use drugs.
• Do not give in to peer pressure.
• Do not put yourself in difficult situations.
• If you think you are in trouble, get help.

Temporary Illnesses

• Temporary illnesses can affect ability to drive safely.
• A cold cause a driver to miss seeing something important/notice, and slow decision-making-reaction during traffic issues.

Long-Term Disability

• Some drivers manage permanent disabilities, like multiple sclerosis and paralysis.
• Many drivers with long-term disabilities can still drive, but may be at higher risk of a collision.

Assistive Devices

• Hand controls that drivers can use to replace the brake and accelerator pedals
• Extra-large rearview mirrors for drivers who cannot fully turn their head or shoulders
• Leg-lift straps to help a driver position a disabled leg properly
• Wheelchair lifts and paths to allow a wheelchair-bound driver access to a specially designed power driver's seat
• Drivers must acquire a special driving permit through a process that confirms that they can drive safely.
• Drivers with disabilities can get special license plates or window cards marked with the handicapped symbol.

Chronic Diseases

• Chronic diseases can also affect an individual's driving abilities.
• These are a health condition that is ongoing and continues to affect the body.
• Chronic diseases include cancer, diabetes, glaucoma, narcolepsy, epilepsy, heart disease and asthma.
• Even if they are not curable, many chronic diseases are treatable, often with medication.
• Drivers may need to adjust their driving schedule to accommodate any negative side effects of their medications.
• Some drivers may even require a doctor's permission to drive.