Sweat test may hold key to roadside drug tests

THE GREETING “good evening, may I ask you to blow in this bag?”, which is guaranteed to strike terror into the hearts of every errant drunk driver, may, in the not-so-distant future, change to: “Could I ask you to provide a sample of your sweat?”

This would not a difficult task for anyone suddenly regretting their last, extra beer – and, even if sweat does prove to be a problem, gardaí might in future go as far as to ask the driver: “Could you provide a sample of your saliva?”

It is all part of a series of new moves to develop a test to show whether drivers who may test negative for excessive alcohol consumption are otherwise impaired, for example, as a result of illegal drug use.

Such tests – which typically involve a small device being rolled along the skin to collect sweat – are currently being considered by An Garda Síochána and the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

RSA chairman Noel Brett confirmed that “in Ireland, drug-impaired driving is an issue”, and revealed that there is a growing phenomenon known as “polydrug use”, in which a person “may take some cocaine later on in the night. He or she may take some cannabis and have a small amount of alcohol and then drive.”

He told the Oireachtas Committee on Transport that the Medical Bureau of Road Safety had identified about seven drugs popular in polydrug use in Ireland.

And, while he said that he did not think that new Garda equipment to detect the use of such drugs would be introduced “this year or next”, he revealed that the Garda and the Medical Bureau were “tracking very carefully a number of pilot projects where hand-held devices are being piloted which test saliva or skin secretions [for drugs]. . . I am sure we will get that technology at some stage.”

In countries like the US and elsewhere, testing for drug use is commonplace among public service employees, and kits that offer instant results can easily be purchased, for as little as €10 each.

Mr Brett pointed out that, under the current Road Safety Strategy “there is training under way for Garda officers to recognise the signs of drugs use – including the dilated pupils and the kind of behaviours which go with the seven main drugs of use”.

He added that the strategy also envisaged gardaí “field impairment testing” which would involve drivers being asked to walk a straight line, touch their noses or perform a physical function.

“In many situations where people are impaired, they are not able to do those things,” he said.

“Field impairment could be used to help the gardaí to form an opinion and then request a blood or urine sample and that is being looked at,” he added.

However, members of the Oireachtas Committee urged all agencies to make progress in what many said was a already significant problem.

Senator Martin Brady (Fianna Fáil) said that police forces in the UK were already using drug tests, and he asked if the Republic should not already be “able to deliver something in terms of checks, given our awareness of the level of drug usage in this country?”

A number of TDs and senators referred to devices used by police at the roadside in Australia, while Michael O’Kennedy TD said: “It should be implemented forthwith, because drug use is a contributory factor [in crashes].”