The number of motorists caught driving under the influence of drugs soared by almost 50% in 2020, despite much reduced traffic levels due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The latest annual report of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety shows a total of 3,650 motorists out of 4,489 stopped on suspicion of drug driving during 2020 tested positive.
Figures from the MBRS, which analyses blood, urine and breath samples on behalf of gardai, reveal the annual number of motorists found to be driving under the influence of drugs has increased more than threefold since 2016 when 1,133 cases were detected.
Almost 40% of motorists who were detected driving under the influence of drugs during 2020 were found to have traces of at least two different types of drugs – a total of 1,409 cases.
The figures show 427 motorists were found using a combination of at least three different drug types, while 57 tested positive for four different classifications of drugs.
Five samples tested during 2020 were found to contain traces of five different drugs.
Handheld devices used by gardai conducting roadside checkpoints can detect cannabis, cocaine, opiates and benzodiazepines in oral fluid.
Similar to other years, the most common drug detected in motorists in 2020 was cannabis which was found in 2,612 samples – up 49% on the previous year and detected in almost 6 out of every 10 specimens analysed.
However, there was an even more dramatic rise in detections of the second most prevalent drug, cocaine, with 1,499 positive samples in 2020 – an annual increase of 75%.
The figures show cocaine was found in a third of all motorists suspected of drug driving.
Motorists aged 25-34 accounted for almost 40% of all drivers who tested positive for drugs with those aged 24 and under accounting for almost 30% of the total.
The report revealed that 130 preliminary drug testing devices were being used by gardaí for roads policing at the end of 2020.
Despite a 70% reduction in traffic levels during 2020 due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the level of drug testing increased by 39% with over 1,250 more samples analysed than the previous year.
The director of the MBRS, Denis Cusack, said the increase in drug-testing was driven by a change in procedure which resulted in all specimens that were over twice the legal limit for alcohol also being tested for drugs.
Prof Cusack said the bureau’s work was also continuing to operate at the same high level in 2021.
The MBRS, which is based at the Health Sciences Centre in University College Dublin, also recorded an overall increase of 23% in the number of urine, blood and breath samples analysed in 2020, despite the reduced traffic levels.
A total of 5,967 samples were analysed for drink and/or drug driving compared to 4,854 in 2019.
The latest figures also reveal that 75% of all blood samples taken from motorists suspected of drink driving in 2020 were over twice the legal limit with the same level of intoxication recorded in 70% of urine samples and 54% of evidential breath tests.
The median alcohol level in blood samples was 148mg per 100ml – almost three times the general legal limit.
The highest level of intoxication in any sample was almost eight times the legal limit at 393mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.
The highest number of samples were taken from motorists in Dublin – 1,799 specimens – an annual increase of 42% and almost twice the national average.
Samples from Dublin motorists accounted for 30% of all tests in 2020.
The next highest number of samples was from motorists in Cork (525) followed by Donegal (337) and Galway (279).
The number of motorists tested in Meath and Louth almost doubled compared to 2019.
The lowest number of samples were taken from motorists in Clare (25) followed by Leitrim (44) and Longford (51).
While there was an increase in the number of motorists tested from a majority of counties, around a third recorded fewer motorists being suspected of drink or drug driving including Kildare, Kerry and Mayo.
The number of samples taken from motorists from Kilkenny more than halved with 73 tested in 2020 compared to 160 in 2019.
Almost half of all samples are collected from motorists between 10pm and 4am with the peak period between 11pm on Saturdays and 3am on Sundays.
Male drivers accounted for 87% of all samples – up from 86% in 2019.
Six out of every ten motorists who provided a specimen in 2020 were aged 34 or under.
The most common age of motorists suspected of drink/drug driving was 23.
The oldest driver tested was aged 88, while the youngest was just 14.
A total of 441 samples were provided in hospitals in 2020 including four taken from unconscious drivers.
Prof Cusack said the bureau played an integral and central role in reducing deaths and injuries on Ireland’s roads which had a figure of 30 fatalities per million population in 2020 – the 5th lowest rate in the EU.
