The person who uses psychoactive drugs and then proceeds to drive a vehicle is an issue of ongoing concern to authorities. It is an issue of continual concern to law enforcement officers, forensic toxicologists, attorneys, physicians and traffic safety professionals in every state in the United States. Some of the things that are matters of concern are ways to identify the drug impaired driver on the road, the availability of appropriate chemical tests, the documentation and assessment of the impairment displayed by the driver and the interpretation of the subsequent results.
The main concern in regard to drugged driving is the effect that drug or drugs will have on the driver. Driving Under the Influence of any drug that acts on your brain could impair your reaction time, judgment and motor skills. Driving under the influence of drugs is a public health concern because it puts not only the driver at risk, but also passengers and others who share the road.
Drugs that can impair driving include marijuana, cocaine, benzodiazepines, amphetamines and opiates, as well as prescription drugs. Many prescription medications (opiate analgesics and benzodiazepines) act on systems in your brain that can impair your driving ability. In fact, many prescription drugs come with warnings against the operation of machinery—including motor vehicles—for a specified period of time after use. Impaired driving can occur when prescription drugs are taken without medical supervision or when their use is abused.
Drugs and driving are a hazard to all of us on the streets and highways in the United States. As surely as you should not drink and drive, so also, you should not take drugs and drive.
Chronic use of cocaine and cocaine overdose may cause many serious effects like paranoia, fear, psychosis, hallucinations, convulsions, cerebral hemorrhage, heart failure and death from respiratory failure. Cocaine excited delirium is a syndrome that is often caused by excessive cocaine use. It is associated with violence to people and property, hyperthermia, a dissociative state, exaggerated strength, cardiorespiratory arrest and sudden death. Some of the signs of driving impairment that may have been caused by cocaine that have been observed are speeding, causing collisions, losing control of the vehicle, high-risk behavior, turning in front of other vehicles, inattentive driving and poor impulse control. You may suffer from depression, sleepiness, inattention and fatigue as the effects of cocaine wear off.
The illegal drug that is most often used while driving or followed by driving a motor vehicle is marijuana. Marijuana is the most prevalent illegal drug that has been found in motor vehicle crash victims, impaired drivers and fatally injured drivers. The areas of your brain that marijuana affects are those that control your body's balance, movements, judgment, memory and coordination, as well as sensations. There is more research needed to understand the impact of marijuana on your ability as a driver to react to complex and unpredictable situations because the effects of this drug are multifaceted.