More than one in seven (14%) young drivers aged 17-25 admit putting lives at risk by driving after taking illegal drugs, according to a survey of 1,150 young people by Brake, the national road safety charity.

Of those who admitted driving on drugs, one in ten said they did so after consuming alcohol as well – a particularly lethal combination. It is likely that even more young drivers drive on drugs, as some drivers surveyed are likely to have failed to admit their law-breaking.

Young people are not only putting their own lives at risk, but those of their young passengers and other road users. Nearly nine in ten of the young drug-drivers surveyed said they carry passengers when driving on drink or drugs.

A huge proportion of drivers killed on our roads are young – one in four car drivers who die behind the wheel are under 25, despite this age group accounting for just one in fifteen car licence-holders. Last year, road deaths overall fell by 8%, yet deaths among 16-19 year-old drivers and passengers rose by 12%.

The survey results come just days after a coroner branded drivers who have smoked cannabis as even more dangerous than drunk-drivers, while speaking at the inquest of a four year-old who was killed by a 19 year-old driver who had smoked cannabis. Isabella Hill died after Barnaby Pearce crashed into her grandfather’s car at nearly 80mph – he had smoked two joints earlier that day. The coroner pointed out that cannabis distorts a driver’s perception of speed and their ability to react.

A study carried out on behalf of the Government shows driving on illegal drugs has increased massively over past decades and is now endemic in our society – 18% of drivers who died behind the wheel 1996-2000 had illegal drugs in their system, compared to 3% during the period 1985-1988. The latest figures from the study are due to be released later this year.

Claire Brixey’s son, Ashley, was killed in October 2004 aged 20 while travelling as a passenger in his friend’s car. His friend had been drinking and taking drugs. Claire says: “Ashley had his whole life ahead of him and this was snatched away because his friend decided to get behind the wheel after drinking and taking drugs – a deliberate decision that put his own life and his passengers’ lives at risk. It’s difficult to put into words the pain that Ashley’s death has caused, but I hope that other young people will realise the devastation caused to my family by drugged driving, and make a decision never to do it themselves.”

Barbara Pearce was seriously injured in a head-on crash with a car driven by a young man who had alcohol, cocaine, cannabis and ecstasy in his system. The driver, 21, and his passenger, 25, were both killed. Barbara suffered full penetrative burns and fractured every bone from the pelvis down. Barbara says: “I used to be a professional teacher. Now I’m a professional hospital patient thanks to a drunk and drugged driver. I would urge anyone considering driving after drinking or taking drugs to think about the damage you could do to yourself or someone else in a crash – you might think it’s boring to stay sober, but imagine how boring it is never being able to walk or move about.”

Mary Williams OBE, chief executive of Brake, says: “It’s high time that young people were made to realise the horrific consequences of drink and drugged driving. Through our helpline, Brake frequently supports families whose loved ones have been killed suddenly and violently because a driver has decided to get behind the wheel on drink or drugs. It’s a disgrace that so many young people are taking these risks and an outrage that the Government does not do more to raise awareness among this age group and invest more in policing our roads.”

Source: www.brake.org.uk

State of the art technology has allowed scientists an insight into how brain chemicals prompt people into addictive behaviour.

Experiments on rats reveal that the brain appears to release a neurotransmitter called dopamine before and after a dose of cocaine.

This “reward” chemical may contribute to the “vicious circle” of drug addiction, say researchers.

The first dopamine dose is a small “taster”, which appears to prompt the rat into looking for a dose of the drug.

The second, much larger dopamine release happens when the cocaine is taken. The results were produced because, for the first time, scientists managed to detect even millisecond-long pulses of dopamine release in the brain.

Cocaine: Rats trained to want it

Prompt and reward

Electrodes implanted in an area of the forebrain called the nucleus accumbens allowed them to see the first “priming” dose of dopamine as well as the massive “reward” dose.
“As a rat chases its tail, so drug addicts may suffer a similar vicious circle of priming and reward controlled by these dopamine signals”
Dr David Self, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Their rats had been trained to press a lever and receive cocaine injection.

They had learned to associate a flash of light and a particular tone with the drug.
When the light came on independently, dopamine levels began to rise as the rat hunted for the cocaine-releasing lever.

Electrical stimulation of the brain cells which produce dopamine also seemed to trigger this hunt for Cocaine.

The researchers, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, say this is an “unprecedented” finding.

They wrote: “This demonstrates that ‘subsecond’ dopamine has a pivotal role in drug-seeking behaviours.”

Understanding how the brain reacts to drug stimulation may offer clues to scientists trying to find ways to call a halt to the cycle of drug taking and seeking among addicts.

Dr David Self, from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, said that it was a “chicken and egg” situation.

He said: “Dopamine acts as a reward for behaviour that precedes its release, and subsequently it triggers pursuit of the same reward after its release.

“As a rat chases its tail, so drug addicts may suffer a similar vicious circle of priming and reward controlled by these dopamine signals.

“Therapies aimed at preventing one or both of these signals could be effective treatments for addiction.”

Mohammed Shoaib, of the charity Action on Addiction, said: “These remarkable findings highlight the role for dopamine in both drug-seeking and drug-taking behaviour.

“The rapid changes in dopamine levels triggered by the cues demonstrate the powerful learning processes that are involved in cocaine dependence, and reveal why it can be so difficult to give up. It’s like giving a dog a biscuit for bad behaviour.”

“Future research efforts should focus on finding drug treatments which disrupt this reward system so that cocaine addicts can be treated more effectively.”

New powers to help tackle the dangers of drug driving can now be used. A new Code of practice means that drivers will be compelled to undertake roadside impairment tests if the police suspect they are driving under the influence of drugs.

The Code details the way trained police officers must conduct the tests to help judge whether someone may be unfit to drive. Refusal to participate is an offence in the same way as failure to provide a breath test.

Breaking the links between drugs and crime:

Home Office Publishes Drugs Bill:

Proposals for a tough package of anti-drugs measures, including new powers for police to order ultrasounds or x-rays of dealers who swallow their drugs to conceal the evidence, were set out recently as the Home Office published the Drugs Bill.

At the heart of new legislation are measures aimed at building on existing work to break the link between drug addiction and crime by getting more drug users into treatment at an early stage and taking tougher action against dealers.

Proposals in the Bill include:

Giving police powers to test for class A drugs on arrest and require those who test positive to attend an assessment and follow-up appointment;

Making dealing near a school, or using children as couriers for drugs or drug-related money an aggravating factor in sentencing;

Introducing a new presumption that those caught with more drugs than reasonable for personal use intend to supply, which carries tougher penalties;

Tougher powers to deal with dealers who swallow their drugs or hide them in body cavities. The police would be able to order a drug or ultrasound and magistrates would be able to remand suspected swallowers in custody for up to eight days;

Dealing with the open selling of magic mushrooms by clarifying in law that fresh mushrooms, as well as prepared ones, are illegal; and A new drug intervention order to run alongside anti-social behaviour orders to address drug misuse by people committing anti-social acts.

A new kind of drug that could be used by date rapists has been spotted for the first time in a UK nightclub.

Oxycodone is a painkiller which is only available on prescription according to experts monitoring the nightclub scene.

It is a powerful sedative and could be used for drug-assisted sexual assault.

Unlike the well-known date rape drug Rohypnol, it does not cause memory loss, but it could make someone suddenly very drowsy.

Oxycodone is a big problem in the United States and we have been expecting it over here. Now it has appeared.

Wayne Jones, 19, was found dead in his home at Marine Parade, Saltburn, in May 2001. Teesside Coroner’s Court heard how this
person had died after taking a fatal dose of Heroin.

The inquest heard that an occasional drug user had died after injecting a large amount of Heroin at his home.

Wayne’s stepfather Andrew Wiseman told the court how he had only known his stepson to take heroin three times. Medical evidence showed he died shortly after injecting himself with a fatal dose of Heroin

Deputy Teesside coroner Gordon Heatherington also said: “Wayne died as a result of Heroin toxicity. I am satisfied that he was not a regular user of drugs”.