It is a drama that highlights the dangers of driving under the influence of narcotics. According to a police source, comedian Pierre Palmade was driving under the influence of cocaine on Friday, February 10, when he collided with another vehicle in an accident which, in addition to the actor, injured three serious, including a child and a pregnant woman who lost her baby.
In France, one in five fatal accidents involves a driver who tested positive for narcotics (i.e. approximately 700 deaths each year). On weekend nights, it is one in three fatal accidents, adds the Ministry of the Interior. For Professor Amine Benyamina, head of the department of psychiatry and addictology at the Paul-Brousse hospital (AP-HP), in Villejuif (Val-de-Marne), the prevention of risks related to driving under the influence of narcotics is not enough, as the focus is now more on alcohol.
What effects does cocaine use have on driving?
Cocaine is one of the psychostimulants. Its consumption is motivated by a desire to increase the effects of pleasure, performance, everything that can generate this ability to feel one’s mental, physical and intellectual capacities increased tenfold. It is a form of doping.
Vigilance is crushed by this hypersensation of control and omnipotence
This feeling that a user feels under the influence of cocaine will give him the impression that he can handle any situation. When he goes to drive, this feeling of having his capacities and his strength increased tenfold will come to reduce his vigilance. With a product that overexcites, we overestimate our ability to react and we reduce our vigilance vis-à-vis the danger. The latter is crushed by this hypersensation of control and omnipotence.
Regarding the effects on driving, other factors come into play: the circumstances in which the user will take the wheel, his physical and psychological state and also the associated consumption of other products, such as alcohol, which will accentuate. Taking cocaine before driving can lead to a loss of control and contact with reality. There is both a psychomotor effect – the fact of driving less well – and a psychological effect – with a decrease in alertness.
For how long after taking cocaine is the user unable to drive?
When cocaine is snorted [prise par voie nasale], the effects appear very quickly, in two to three minutes. The “crash” effect [redescente] is also fast, it manifests itself in a maximum of two hours. It is therefore better to completely avoid driving during a drinking period. Taking this substance draws a vulnerable consumer profile, even when the use is occasional. It is a substance with a strong addictive power and the temptation for the consumer to take it again is always present.
Do you think that the risks associated with the use of narcotics are well known to motorists?
The risks are clearly not well enough known. Prevention tends to focus primarily on alcohol-related risks. Nevertheless, even on this theme, we are not very good, in my opinion. Driving with 0.5 grams of alcohol per liter of blood is not necessarily a guarantee of safety. There are countries where we have succeeded in lowering this limit to 0 grams per liter [c’est par exemple le cas en République tchèque, en Hongrie, en Slovaquie ou encore en Roumanie, selon le site Toute l’Europe].
Cocaine is becoming a real public health problem in its classic (snorted) form. It is now a product installed in the practices of the French. Traffic thrives, prices drop. It is a drug which is no longer a social marker but which targets the entire population, young and old alike, and all social classes. We need a real information and awareness campaign about the consumption of narcotics associated with driving, and a policy that is more grounded in reality. I hope that the drama of this weekend will help to move things forward.
Does cannabis make driving more dangerous than cocaine?
Not necessarily, and it is a mistake to try to compare the effects of these products on driving. Already, it will depend, among other things, on the quantity consumed, the sensitivity of the person to the products, etc. In short, cannabis puts you to sleep, cocaine excites. When you use cannabis, which is a sedative, you are not alert enough to drive. But in both cases, there is an impairment of alertness.
The cocktail of drugs and alcohol multiplies by twenty-nine the risk of being involved in a fatal accident
Half of the drug-positive drivers involved in a fatal accident also have a blood alcohol level above 0.5 grams per liter of blood. The drug-alcohol cocktail multiplies by twenty-nine the risk of being involved in a fatal accident, recalls the Ministry of the Interior. Driving under the influence of cannabis doubles the risk of being responsible for a fatal accident.
In the event of a positive saliva or blood test for narcotics, the penalties incurred can go up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of 4,500 euros, seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 euros in the event of bodily injury and ten years’ imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros in the event of of fatal accident. Combinations of drugs and alcohol or drugs and driving without a license constitute an aggravating circumstance.
The motorist also risks the withdrawal of six points on his driving license or the cancellation of the latter, followed by a three-year ban on applying for a new one. He also incurs additional penalties, such as community service or the obligation to follow an awareness course on road safety or the risks associated with the use of narcotics.