Driving under the influence of central stimulant amines: Age and gender differences in concentrations of amphetamine, methamphetamine, and ecstasy in blood

Abstract

Objective: A zero-tolerance law for driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) was introduced in Sweden in 1999. This change in legislation has led to a 12-fold increase in the number of blood samples sent by the police for toxicological analysis. Here we report the age and gender of offenders, along with the concentrations of amphetamine, methamphetamine, and ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymeth-amphetamine) in blood samples analyzed since the institution of the new legislation. Method: A forensic toxicology database (TOXBASE) was used to identify cases of DUID in which central stimulant amines were verified in blood during a 5-year period (2000-2004). Results: Amphetamine was present in 15,898 of 26,556 cases of DUID (60%) either alone or together with other licit or illicit drugs. In 6,094 cases, amphetamine was the only psychoactive substance in blood at mean (median) and highest concentrations of 1.01 mg/L (0.80 mg/L) and 11.9 mg/L, respectively. The users of amphetamine were mainly men (85% vs 15% women; p < .001), and men tended to be a few years older than the women; the mean (SD) age for men was 37 (9.2) years and for women it was 35 (8.1) years (p