subject: The Drugalyser [print this page] The Drugalyser The Drugalyser
A new weapon is being released this month on wayward drivers who are driving under the influence. The drugalyser' detects substance abuse in less than two minutes and can detect cocaine and heroin in the saliva of a driver. It is able to test substances in the saliva at much lower levels than any current tests, which suggests a total overhaul for the current driver.
A positive result on the machine would mean that police officers no longer have to wait for permission to carry out a blood test on possible drug drivers, and the tests can be done at the side of the road.
A recent survey revealed that nine out of ten drivers wanted a tougher stance on drug driving, to bring it up to the level of the prosecution for a drink driver. The government announced plans in August to install a device in every police station across the country along a very similar vein, but by 2015 these handheld kits will be in every officer's possession.
A government sponsored study revealed last year that ten percent of eighteen to twenty five year olds admit to getting behind the wheel when under the influence of illegal substances.
Peter Welch, chairman and chief executive of Concateno, which produced the device, said: "The new system will offer significant operational benefits to healthcare and police professionals; perhaps the most important being the ability to speed up the point of care testing process.
The device may also be rolled out to hospitals to detect patients who are under the influence, as casualties report that often people do not admit to drug use, making their conditions very difficult to diagnose and wasting hospital time.
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