The fact that the police fined 64 drivers for driving under the influence of drugs in just four days does not surprise doctors who witness traffic accidents every day.
Guesting on Boje Jutra on TV Vijesti, forensic medicine specialist Nemanja Radojević pointed out that the rapid screening test performed in such situations is only reliable for cocaine.
"Just as it used to surprise us to find cocaine or some other psychoactive substance in, for example, a driver who died, today it is no longer surprising. So, we often find cocaine in the blood so often that it is at the level of 'here it is', which is simply not good, given that every psychoactive substance has very bad effects on psychophysical abilities and the ability to safely drive a motor vehicle, and can therefore be considered a factor that actually contributed to the accident, if not the direct cause of the accident. So, not only is alcohol recognized as one of these substances, all drugs, including medications that have a psychotropic effect and which are of course prohibited when using a vehicle, or if you are using some psychiatric therapy, if the medication has the triangle mark on the box, it is considered trigonic. These are medications that have a strong impact on motor abilities, as well as drugs. Then you cannot drive a motor vehicle. The problem is dramatized when someone dies, the one who "If the person who caused the accident was under the influence of psychoactive substances, then his responsibility is much greater, the penalties are much greater, which is what they should be, but I certainly think they should be further strengthened," said Radojević.
The trend of increasing drug abuse, especially among young people, is also being noticed by the NGO Cazas, which has day centers for people addicted to psychoactive substances.
"The average age of our users has drastically decreased in the last ten years. Ten years ago, our average user was between 35 and 45, but they were mostly in their late 30s and early 40s. For us, the average age of our clients is decreasing, so that now we are already talking about the early 30s when these people really got so deeply into the disease of addiction. So it is very important to understand that context, but also when we talk about age and youth. It is true that young people are legally people from 15 to 30 years old, but that category of youth in the context of life, in the context of productivity, should be viewed differently in this part. And a 40-year-old life that is lost is a young life. Because it is a person who could still contribute to society, to perform their roles, to develop, to continue achieving some results. So we really believe that every life that is lost in this way could have been, so to speak, saved and that we simply have an obligation to create some actions that will not only be focused on young people, but "In general, all traffic participants in that area," Sanja Šišović from Cazas told Boje jutra.
Bonus video:
