‘Effects last much longer than you feel’
The number of people who get behind the wheel under the influence of drugs and are caught by the police has increased by more than a third in a year. The Trimbos Institute warns drug users: after taking a pill, you can be less sharp in traffic for days.
In the first five months of this year, even before the festival season had properly started, the police took more than 11,000 positive drug tests in traffic, according to figures requested by this site. In the same period last year, there were fewer than 8,500.
What is also striking: at the time, drivers with alcohol in their system were still in the majority in the offense of ‘driving under the influence’. Meanwhile, the roles have been reversed, and people who are caught under the influence of drugs, whether or not in combination with alcohol, are in the majority.
A police spokesperson is in the dark about the reason for the increase, but it seems unlikely that it is due to more checks: “That may be the case, but I don’t see any specific reason for it.”
No longer high
Steven Biemans, a specialist in the field of drug research at the Trimbos Institute, sees two groups of drug users taking to the road. “On the one hand, there are people who know that they are under the influence, but who think they can still drive well. On the other hand, there are people who think they are no longer under the influence because they are no longer high.”
That not everyone properly assesses the effects of drug use was evident last year from a survey among young people by TeamAlert: nine out of ten condemn driving under the influence of drugs, but at the same time, young people think that ecstasy makes you more alert, and that cannabis makes you calmer.
That is a misconception, Biemans emphasizes: “There is a difference between the ‘positive desired effects’ of drug use and being under the influence. The latter lasts much longer.”
40 hours positive after ecstasy
That is why the police’s blood test devices are set sharply: after one dose of ecstasy, you will still test positive for 40 hours, and with multiple doses, this can increase to 2.5 days. Anyone who regularly smokes cannabis should definitely not go on the road for a day.
The police do not do this to be annoying. “Without realizing it, you are really less alert all that time.” With all the risks that entails: “People have often died in traffic due to an accident caused by someone who had used drugs.”
Much greater chance of an accident
TeamAlert will launch a campaign next month to make young people aware of the influence of drugs on their driving ability. That influence is significant, especially if you also have alcohol. “The chance of an accident is then two hundred times greater than for someone who takes to the road sober,” says researcher Saar Hadders of TeamAlert.
Why do young people take that risk anyway? “The brain area that thinks about the long-term consequences of what you do is not yet fully developed. ‘Getting home quickly by car’ still weighs heavier for them.”
Moreover, there is peer pressure, says Hadders: young people feel compelled to bring their friends home, drugs or not. Next month’s campaign will therefore focus on this: ‘Driving sober is normal.’
The ‘drugs-designated driver’
Biemans’ advice: make sure you know how long you are under the influence of certain drugs, if necessary, call the drug information line of the Trimbos Institute in advance, because ‘we are no longer available on weekends’.
And appoint a ‘drugs-designated driver’. They don’t have to stay completely out of it and can even drink two small glasses of alcohol. But preferably not, says Biemans. There are also other factors that determine how well someone can drive after a festival. “At a multi-day festival, make sure that the designated driver gets enough sleep.”