Scots drug-driving arrests are highest in whole of Britain
SCOTLAND’s drug-driving crackdown has led to police being overwhelmed – with more arrests than in the rest of the UK.
Only six months after new laws came into force, officers fear the problem is worse than estimated.
Labs struggling to cope with the number of blood samples needing tested are receiving extra kit to ramp up their capabilities.
Since October, officers have made around 1,000 roadside arrests in connection with suspicions about drug-driving – 50 per cent higher than was expected and far in excess of rates elsewhere in the UK.
There is no sign of numbers falling during the coronavirus lockdown, with labs drafting in more staff and others working overtime to ensure prosecutions do not collapse due to a backlog in testing.
Jack Cousens, of the AA, said: ‘Drink-driving has become socially unacceptable but there’s not quite the same taboo around drug-driving among a section of society. Anecdotally, it is more commonplace in recent years to detect the scent of cannabis in the street and coming from car windows.’
He said that while the Scottish statistics were ‘depressing on the face of it’, they are also a ‘good sign’ – as they show police are reinforcing the message that drivers who break the law will ‘get their come-uppance through the courts’.
The figures were revealed by Gary Holcroft, the Scottish Police
Authority’s (SPA) head of physical sciences, in a paper last week to its forensic services committee.
Instead of an estimated 1,350 samples being sent to labs in the first year of the crackdown, around 1,000 have gone since October.
Mr Holcroft states: ‘Prior to the coronavirus outbreak and government lockdown, the demand for the drug-driving toxicology service was approximately 50 per cent higher than forecast during the service planning stages.
‘It appears from the data available up to April 9, that the demand shows no sign of decreasing despite the coronavirus outbreak.
‘Estimates had been made based on the test usage in England and Wales. These were revised upwards in the summer of 2019. These estimates, however, have not reflected actual use of the service.’
Mr Holcroft added: ‘Forensic services staff have been working additional hours to ensure no reporting dates have been missed.’
During a pilot scheme for the new laws, only 43 per cent of samples uncovered illegal levels of drugs in drivers’ blood.
But since October, that figure has been running at 85 per cent, which means this first wave of tests will likely generate 850 prosecutions compared with forecasts of between 400 and 450.
Two new drug extraction systems were last week bought in from Sweden, at a cost of £60,000, and more kit will be purchased with an extra £180,000 of Scottish Government funding, although it is not expected to arrive before summer.
Superintendent Simon Bradshaw, of the roads policing unit, said: ‘While estimates can be made following the experiences of forces in England and Wales, we could not know the full extent of the issue until legislation became active.
‘It is unfathomable that some people still think it is acceptable to take such risks and we encourage the public to report such irresponsible behaviour to us.’
‘Unfathomable some think this is acceptable’