ROADSIDE DRUG TEST

A WORLD-first roadside saliva test that detects drugs on the spot will be
launched in Melbourne today.

The US-developed Cozart RapiScan traces up to seven drugs in one sample,
including cannabis, cocaine, heroin, amphetamines and ecstasy.

And the results are accurate even if someone has drunk alcohol, tea,
coffee, cough mixture or used mouthwash.

The test could be used by police on the roads, in hospital emergency
departments and for insurance purposes.

It could also be used by sports bodies and employers to detect substance
abuse.

A person sucks on something resembling a lollipop stick topped with cotton
wool.

When enough saliva is collected on the absorbent pad, the stick is inserted
into a tube where it is mixed with fluid.

Three drops of the saliva-fluid mix are placed in a cartridge which shows
within five minutes which drugs are circulating in the person's body.

The launch comes as the State Government gets ready to introduce new
drug-testing laws.

A government taskforce is assessing the best method of testing.

But police would prefer a saliva test, which is simpler to carry out than a
blood test.

Kevin Walsh, of the Australian distributor of RapiScan, Bio-Mediq, said
police in Europe and Britain were using the test in drug-drive trials.

The Victorian Government was considering a trial, he said.

Government spokeswoman Amanda Scanlon would not comment.

But Victoria Police spokesman James Tonkin said there was no plan for a
saliva test trial at present.

American drug-testing expert Dr Vina Spiehler, in Australia for the launch
of RapiScan, said it was a breakthrough.

She said urine tests only showed if a person had been exposed to drugs in
the past few days, meaning the effects might be long gone.

"But saliva is a mirror of what's circulating in the blood and body at the
moment," Dr Spiehler said.

"For many drugs of abuse, the concentration in saliva closely mirrors that
in the bloodstream, so saliva gives you an indication of whether a person
is under the influence of a drug at the time of testing."