Drug dependence and driving

Abstract

For many Japanese people, combinations of drugs and driving bring to mind sensational reckless driving accidents caused by users of new psychoactive substances. These substances cause impaired consciousness, muscle rigidity, akinesia, and convulsions, affecting the inhibitory system, as well as intense excitation and hallucination-delusions involving the excitable system. Combined use of multiple substances is more dangerous than the use of a single substance. Stimulants excite the central nervous system, causing hallucination-delusion reactions, and increase the incidence of fatal accidents by 5.61 times. Many reports indicate that sedatives, mainly benzodiazepines, increase the rate of traffic accidents. Cannabis impairs motor function and also causes hallucinations or perceptual distortions, increasing the incidence of fatal accidents by 1.83 times. Drug abuse has a substantial adverse effect on driving performance and causes serious accidents. Drug addiction is characterized by the inability to control drug use and consistently carries a risk of accidents. Addiction is a disease. Punishing addicts does not solve but rather exacerbates the problem. Condemnation will not lead to resolution. For the treatment of drug addiction, it is essential to build a relationship of trust with addicts and to motivate them. If they are only forced to abstain from drugs or prohibited from driving, they will drop out of treatment, and accidents will actually increase. To prevent traffic accidents, it is important for healthcare providers to offer appropriate addiction treatment based on a relationship of trust.