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

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