“Drug Driving” More Likely Than Drunk Driving
Here’s the good news: the anti-drunk driving campaigns are working. And the bad news? Well, let’s just say someone should launch an anti-using and driving campaign. According to a new study by the Australian Drug Foundation that found that of those surveyed a little more than a third of all who took opiate prescription painkillers reported driving within three hours of taking the drug. How many reported driving after drinking? Less than 14 percent.
Gender played a part in the study as well: men were more likely to drive while using than women. Or more men admitted to driving within three hours of using than women. Age didn’t seem to matter, though, as driving after using was pretty equal across age groups.
Many said they didn’t realize that the drugs they were using would adversely affect their driving. Especially with prescription drugs that are prescribed to manage pain, this is true. Those who take them long enough to become physically dependent upon them may not realize that their reflexes and thought processes are slower, putting themselves, their passengers and everyone else on the road at risk.
Says Dr. Mallick, one of those who ran the study: “More than two-thirds of respondents knew ‘a little’ or ‘nothing’ about the impact of illicit drugs on driving, and users of pharmaceutical drugs were not much more knowledgeable, with 42.2 per cent of benzodiazepine users saying they knew ‘nothing’ about the effect the drug could have on their driving ability. Overwhelmingly, respondents had little idea about how long to wait between the use of drugs other than alcohol and driving.” He went on to say that more than 67 percent of those who drove after taking prescription medication reported that there was no difference in their driving ability.
Chalk this one up as yet another reason to kick the addiction—or actually, two. Detoxing off of painkillers with buprenorphine not only makes you a better driver but puts you in a better frame of mind to drive defensively around those who are still “drug driving.”
If you’d like to read more about the studies done in Australia about drug addiction and its results, check out the Australian Drug Foundation.
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