Methadone and Impairment in Apprehended Drivers

Norwegian guidelines allow patients in opioid-assisted rehabilitation programs to drive motor vehicles as long as they meet certain requirements. This study was undertaken to investigate drivers who had been apprehended with methadone in their blood, as well as the relationship between impairment and blood methadone concentration as measured by the clinical test of impairment (CTI). Study methodology consisted of analyzing blood samples collected by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health's Forensic Toxicology and Drug Abuse (DFTDA) division that tested positive for methadone during the period of 2001-2006. DFTDA analyzes blood samples taken from all drivers suspected of driving under the influence of drugs across Norway. The study identified 635 drivers whose blood samples tested positive for methadone. The majority were males (>80%) between the ages of 30 and 40. In only ten cases, methadone was the only psychoactive drug detected in the blood samples. A frequent finding in the blood samples (in approximately 90% of cases) were benzodiazepines. Cases where only methadone was detected [median 0.46 mg/l (range 0.19-0.65)] and cases where a combination of methadone and other psychoactive drugs were detected [median 0.28 mg/l (range 0.06-1.24)] in the blood samples were found to have a significant difference in blood methadone concentration. In 577 of the cases, a CTI had been carried out in conjunction with blood sampling. In these cases, a concentration-impairment relationship was not seen for methadone. Driving impairment involving a combination of methadone and other psychoactive drugs was most frequent, while cases involving methadone alone were very rare. No correlation was seen by methadone concentration and impairment as determined by the CTI for either of these cases or the material as a whole.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/09652140
• Authors:
  • Bernard, Jean-Paul
  • Morland, Jorg
  • Krogh, Mette
  • Khiabani, Hassan Zare
• Publication Date: 2009-3

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 457-464
• Serial:
  • Addiction
  • Volume: 104
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: Blackwell Publishers
  • ISSN: 0965-2140
  • EISSN: 1360-0443
  • Serial URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1360-0443

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Blood analysis; Drugged drivers; Impaired drivers
• Uncontrolled Terms: Benzodiazepines; Methadone; Opioids; Psychoactive drugs
• Geographic Terms: Norway
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Society; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01328284
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 28 2011 10:42AM