recidivism among drugged drivers in norway
TRANSCRIPT
Recidivism among drugged drivers in Norway
A. S. C h r isto p h ersen , K . M . B e y lich , S. S k u rtv e it a n d J . M p rla n d
N ational Institu te o f Forensic T oxico logy , P.O. B ox 495 S entrum , 0105 O slo, N orw ay
IN T R O D U C T IO N .
T he N orw egian Road Traffic Act prohibits driving under the influence o f alcohol and/or other
psychoactive d rugs. T he b lood alcohol concentration (BAC) legal lim it in N orw ay is 0 ,0 5 % .
D uring the last years, approxim ately 5000 and 1400 drivers have been sentenced per year fo r
driving under the influence o f alcohol or drugs, respectively. There has been a m arked increase
in the num ber o f drivers apprehended by the police suspected to be influenced by d rugs, from
about 900 cases in 1983 to m ore the 3000 each year in 1995 and 1996. D uring the sam e time
period , the num ber o f drivers suspected to be influenced by alcohol only , has decreased from
11000 to approxim ately 5500 cases. T hus, d rugs are now suspected in about 40% o f the
N orw egian cases apprehended by the police, due to the suspicion o f driv ing under the
influence. F rom several studies, it has been docum ented that a large p roportion o f arrested
d runken drivers are repeat offenders (G jerde and M prland, 1990, P ikkarainen et al, 1995,
C hristophersen et al, 1996). H ow ever, recidivism am ong drugged drivers has m ore o r less
been unknow n, due to the lack o f follow -up studies covering this g roup o f arrested drivers.
F rom one form er N orw egian study, based on m inor selected groups, it w as show n that the
rearrest rate fo r drivers influenced by diazepam at selection (1983), w as h igher (>60% )
com pared to drunken drivers (32% ), w hen follow ed for five subsequent years (G jerde et al.
1988). A s the num ber o f drugged drivers in N orw ay has increased three to fo u r tim es since
1983, it has been o f interest to fo llow the rearrest rates am ong larger d rugged driv ing groups
apprehended during the last years and also to find if the frequency o f offences are connected to
drivers w ith specific d rugs o r d rug com bination detected at selection. The purpose o f the
p resent investigation w as to follow suspected drugged drivers arrested during 1992, fo r the
study o f rearrest ra tes com pared to a selected group o f drunken d rivers , selected from the same
year.
M A T E R IA L S A N D M E T H O D S
Blood sam ples from all N orw egian drivers apprehended due to the suspicion o f driv ing under
the influence o f alcohol o r o ther drugged, are analysed at the N ational Institute o f Forensic
T oxicology (N IFT) in Oslo. The cases included in this study w ere selected from 1992. D uring
th is year, N IF T received 2718 sam ples from drivers suspected to drive under the influence o f
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drugs alone o r in com bination w ith alcohol. A ll blood sam ples from suspected drugged drivers
with B A C ’s below 0 ,15 % (n=2372) , w ere analysed fo r am phetam ines, benzodiazepines
(B ZD ), opiates, tetrahydrocannabinol (TH C ) and cocaine. D rugs w ere detected in 1415
sam ples, represen ting 1230 d ifferent drivers. T hese, 1230 drugged d rivers w ere included in the
study o f recid iv ism , consisting o f 87,1% (n=1071) m ale and 12,9% (n= 159) fem ale subjects.
The prevalence o f rearrests fo r im paired driving w as fo llow ed prospectively fo r all cases during
the three fo llow ing years from 1992 to 1995. T he selected dm gged drivers w ere registered as a
recid iv ist w hen identified by our data system as a new case received at N IFT for analyses.
F or com parison w ith drunken drivers, 200 subjects from each o f the three fo llow ing BAC
intervals w ere selected random ly from the sam e year (1992): 0 ,0 6 -0 ,0 9 % , 0 ,13 -0 ,16% and
0 ,26 -0 ,2 9 % , o r totally 600 cases (C hristophersen et al 1996), consisting o f 94 ,5% (n=567)
m ale and 5,5% (n=33) fem ale subjects, w ith a m edian age o f 26 years. In 1992, N IF T received
6876 blood sam ples from drivers suspected by the police to be influenced by alcohol only. The
prevalence o f rearrest rates w as follow ed prospectively fo r three years (1992 to 1995). The
drugged and drunken drivers selected from 1992, w ere also traced retrospectively back to 1984,
fo r the registration o f earlier apprehension due to im paired driving.
R E S U L T S
O verall, 54% (n=669) o f the drugged drivers, representing 8,2% fem ale (n=55) and 91 ,8%
m ale (n=614), reappeared in our data system tw ice o r m ore during the 3 -year period , because o f
arrest fo r driv ing under the influence o f d rugs, d rugs com bined w ith alcohol o r alcohol alone.
T he drivers accounted for 1701 rearrests due to drugged or drunken driv ing , o r a m ean o f 2 ,5
reairests per driver. T he rearrest rate w as h igher fo r male drivers (57 ,3% ) com pared to female
(34,6% ). T he age groups m ost frequently rearrested , w ere from 20-29 years (62% ) and from
30-39 years ( 28% ), respectively , w ith a m edian age o f 28 ,0 years. N o significant differences
betw een male and fem ale w ith regard to age distribution w ere recorded . The resu lts are
sum m arised in Table 1.
W hen other offences in addition to driving under the influence w ere traced in our data system
due to blood o r urine sam ples sent to N IFT for analyses, about 60% o f the selected drugged
drivers reappeared.
The m ost com m on d rugs detected am ong drugged drivers in 1992 w ere TF1C (n= 8 4 2 ),
diazepam (n=672), am phetam ine (n=391), flunitrazepam (n=212) and m orphine ( n= 107). F o r
approxim ately 75% o f the selected drivers, tw o or m ore drugs (alcohol included) w ere detected.
N o significant d ifferences in rearrest rates w ere found betw een drivers w ith different d rug(s)
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detected in their b lood sam ples at selection. The drug(s) detected at rearrest time w ere often
different from the tim e at selection.
The rearrest rate fo r drugged drivers w as about three tim es h igher than fo r drunken drivers
(19% ) arrested during the sam e year (1992) and follow ed prospectively fo r the sam e three
subsequent years to 1995 (Table 1). The rearrest rate fo r drunken drivers increased with
increasing B A C levels (C hristophersen et al, 1996). H ow ever, the frequency o f rearrests
am ong drugged drivers w as tw o tim es h igher com pared drunken drivers selected from the
highest B A C level (27% ).
T ab le 1 : R ea rr ests o f d ru g g ed d r iv ers (n = 1 2 3 0 ) se le c te d in 1 9 9 2
(m a le :n = 1 0 7 1 , fem ale: n = 1 5 9 ) , (m u lti-d r u g u sers: n = 9 1 5 , s in g le -d r u g u se r s:
n = 3 1 5 ), fo llo w e d p r o sp e c tiv e ly (1 9 9 2 -1 9 9 5 ) , co m p a red to rea rrests a m o n g
d ru n k en d r iv ers (n = 6 0 0 ) se le c te d in 1 9 9 2 , fo llo w e d d u rin g th e sa m e tim e
p e r io d .
C ases Frequency (% ) o f
rearrests - total
F requency (%) of
rearrests - m ale
Frequency (% ) o f
rearrests - fem ale
A ge d istri
bution (%)
D rugged drivers
follow ed
3 years
54 (n=669) 57,3 (n=614) 34,6 (n=55) > 2 0 : 4
20-29: 62
30-39: 28
> 4 0 : 6
Selected with
single drug
47,9 (n=151)
Selected with
tw o/m ore drugs
56,6 (n=518)
D runken drivers
fo llow ed 3 years
19 (n = l 14) 94,5 (n=567) 5,5 (n=33)
W hen the rearrested drugged drivers during 1992-1995, w ere traced retrospectively back to
1984, m ore than 70% had previously been arrested one o r m ore tim es. F o r m ore than 50% o f
the cases, B A C ’s above the legal limit w ere detected. A m ong the rearrested drunken d rivers ,
approxim ately 60% had earlier been arrested during the period from 1984 to 1992.
M ost o f the biological sam ples taken due to forensic autopsy in N orw ay are also sent to N1FT
for d rugs analyses. W hen the register o f rearrested drugged drivers from 1992-1995, w as
com pared to the reg ister o f autopsy cases received at N IFT during the sam e time period , it w as
found that 6 ,6% (n=44) had died during the three years fo llow -up period and 39 o f these
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drivers w ere betw een 20 - 39 years old. These cases w ere all from m edico-legal autopsies
analysed fo r drugs at N IFT and thus representing a selected m inim um num ber o f deaths am ong
this population during this time period. The death rate am ong rearrested drivers age 20 - 39
years, w as thus at least 25 tim es higher com pared to the average death-rate in N orw ay for this
age group (0,02% ), according the official statistics. F or about 50% o f these autopsy cases, 6-
m onoacetylm orphine w as detected in their urine sam ples, indicating a heroin related death.
D I S C U S S I O N
O ur results show that the recidivism am ong drugged drivers in N orw ay , seem s to be
significantly h igher than recidivism am ong drunken drivers, w hich have been show n to have
high recidivism rate (G jerde and M prland, 1990, C hristophersen et a l., 1996). W om en
constitu te a m inority o f the drivers suspected for driving under the influence o f drugs o r alcohol
(Skurtveit et al, 1995). B ased on our results, fem ale drivers has also a low er frequency o f
rearrest rate com pared to m ale drivers.
M ost o f the repeated offenders during the period from 1992-1995, had been arrested earlier,
m ainly due to driving under the influence o f alcohol. The results indicate that repeated drunken
offenders, often continue as a drugged offender in roadside traffic. M ost o f the selected
drugged drivers w ere m ulti-drug users (Table 1). H ow ever, our resu lts give no indication that
drivers selected w ith specific drug(s), e .g . illegal drugs com pared to prescribed drugs, were
rearrested m ore often com pared to drivers using o ther drugs. P rescribed drugs (BZD s or
opiates) are m ost often detected at blood concentrations representing drug use in supra
therapeutic doses, often in com bination w ith illegal d rugs o r alcohol. M ulti-drug use, illegal
drugs com bined w ith prescribed drugs at high blood concentrations and a high death rate am ong
drugged offenders com pared to norm al population, indicate that th is g roup o f drivers are over
represented by drug addicts.
In accordance to the N orw egian Road T raffic L aw , drunken or drugged drivers are convicted to
fines and conditional o r unconditional im prisonm ent, based on the degree o f influence. F o r all
cases, the driv ing licence is suspended fo r at least tw o years.
In 1992, about 800 drugged drivers w ere sentenced, indicating that a large proportion o f
convicted drugged drivers lost their driving licence fo r at least tw o years o f the study period
after 1992. In N orw ay, there is no follow -up system or treatm ent p rogram s connected to drug
abuse, fo r convicted drugged drivers. O n the basis o f the results from this study, show ing high
frequency o f rearrest ra tes, w e conclude that som e sort o f reactions in addition to fines,
im prisonm ent and loss o f driving licence should be considered as additional m easures.
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R E F E R E N C E S
C hristophersen , A. S., Beylich K. M ., B jprneboe, A ., Skurtveit, S. and M prland, J. (1996).
Recidivism am ong drunken and drugged drivers in N orw ay. A lcohol & A lcoholism , 31, 6 ,
609-611.
G jerde, H ., B jprneboe, A ., C hristophersen , A. S ., M prland, J., N orm ann , P .T . and
Sakshaug, J. (1988). A five years prospective study o f rearrest fo r driv ing under influence o f
alcohol o r drugs. In: P roceeding o f the Section on A lcohol, drugs and traffic Safety. 35th Int.
C ongress on Alcohol and D rugs D ependence. (S tew art, K. G ., S w eedler, B. and H ughes
C .C ., eds).IS B N : 0 -9621467-0 -6
G jerde, H . and M prland, J. (1990). R epeat offences am ong arrested drunken drivers. J. o f
T raffic M edicine 18, 175-178.
Skurtveit, S., C hristophersen , A. S. and M prland, J. (1995). Fem ale d rivers suspected for
drunken or drugged driv ing . Forensic Sci. Int. 75, 139-148.
P ikkarainen, J., Pen ttila , A . and Seppa, H . (1995). R ecidivism o f drunken driving in F inland
1972-1994. In: A lcohol, d rugs and Traffic Safety. T ’95, (K loeden C. N. and M cLean A. J .
eds.). pp 591-595. N H M R C . R oad A ccident R esearch U nit. T he U niversity o f A delaide. ISB N
0 908204-21-3 .
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