Dramatic Increase in Numbers Caught Driving Under Influence of Drugs

MORE THAN ONE IN FOUR HELSINKI DUI CASES INVOLVE DRUGS

According to police statistics, the number of drivers found under the
influence of drugs has increased sharply. Last year police caught over
60 % more drug-affected motorists than in 2002.

The growth has been sustained this year, too. Until mid-April, close
to 20 % more drivers under the influence of drugs were caught than
within the same period last year. In 2003, more than 23,500 cases of
drunken driving were recorded, an increase of 1.2%. The use of drugs
or a combination of alcohol and drugs was found in a further 2,500
cases, up from just over 1,500 in 2002.

According to Supt. Heikki Seppa of the Ministry of the Interior 's
Police Department, more than 25 % of all incidents of intoxicated
driving reported in Helsinki have been drug-impaired motorists.

All over Finland one in ten of the incidents of intoxicated driving
involve drugs. The majority of them are found in large cities.

Seppa points out that the change is partly the result of an increase
in the number of drugged drivers, and partly stems from the new policy
of zero tolerance for drug use in traffic.

According to the new law that took effect in February last year,
authorities no longer need to prove that the driver was actually
impaired by the drug, but a conviction is possible if a blood test
reveals the presence of a drug or its metabolites in the driver's system.

The change in statistics became noticeable in May last year when for
instance in Helsinki the figures doubled compared with the previous
year. The police statistics contain incidents of driving under the
influence of alcohol or drugs or both.

Apart from zero tolerance, other reasons for the sudden jump in the
numbers getting caught are the fact that police have been better
trained to identify signs of drug-use as well as the fact that more
efficient methods are being used by the police. Finnish police are
currently running trials on new roadside testing devices that identify
the presence of some of the most common drugs from a saliva sample.
Positive tests will still have to be confirmed by a blood test in a
laboratory.

"To some extent, also increasing alcohol consumption as well as the
increase in traffic and cars are to be blamed for the growth in the
number of intoxicated drivers. On the other hand, the current growth
has no connection with the lowering of alcohol taxation in March. The
reduction will have a delayed effect on the figures", says Seppa.

In an interview published by the daily newspaper Suomenmaa, Minister
of Justice Johannes Koskinen and Chief of the Mobile Police Teuvo
Veijalainen both call for more severe punishments in cases of repeated
drunken driving. This is possible according to the existing penal code
wording on intoxicated driving. Furthermore, Managing Director Matti
Jarvinen of Liikenneturva (The Central Organization for Traffic Safety
in Finland) adds that the number of intoxicated drivers is apparently
still increasing and the punishments should be tightened overall.