Drug-impaired driving is "an increasing, real and significant" problem, an Oireachtas committee was told yesterday.
At the joint committee on Transport, Prof Denis A Cusack of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety (MBRS) recommended that, to tackle the drug-driving problem, a separate blood or urine sample should be sought for analysis in the event of a nil or low alcohol reading being obtained in a breath test.
Mr Cusack said a nationwide survey carried out at UCD by the MBRS found that approximately one-third of the blood and urine samples from drivers arrested on suspicion of intoxicated driving, who were under the legal limit for alcohol, tested positive for one or more other drugs.
About one-sixth of all drivers, whether under or over the limit for alcohol, showed evidence of using other drugs. These drugs included cannabis, amphetamine, benzodiazepines, cocaine, opiates and methadone.
The researchwas carried out in 2000 before the increase in evidential breath-testing resulted in a significant reduction in the number of blood and urine samples examined.