Joshua Parfitt
A TOTAL of 5,000 medicines could see you fail a police stop and lose up to six points from your licence, according to a new study.
The Spanish Medicines Agency said the legal drugs, including antihistamines and antidepressants, can also lead to fines of up to €1,000.
The drugs are often confused with ‘cocaine’, ‘cannabis’ and ‘amphetamines’ in urine and saliva tests.
“We are talking about very common drugs, from those used for sleep disorder to sedatives and antipsychotics,” said Dr. José María Domínguez Roldán, a member of the General Assembly of the Collegiate Medical Organisation.
“Even drugs not intended to sedate the patient still do as a side effect, such as some antihistamines or some drugs used to treat allergies, or a common cold.
“But either way, we are talking about medications of habitual use and not drugs of abuse.”
According to a recent study by Spain’s General Directorate of Traffic, 11% of drivers in Spain take Benzodiazapines, such as lorazepam and diazepam.
Benzodiazapines were behind 4.3% of positive drug tests – and in 97.1% of these the common medicine was confused with another drug, especially ‘cocaine’ or ‘cannabis’.
Without a doctor’s prescription, drivers taking these drugs may be liable to fines and points lost from their licences.
This is because the drugs often lead to lapses in ‘concentration’ and ‘alertness’.
The list of medications whose presence in urine and saliva tests can produce false positives include:
- Benzodiazepine (Lorazepam, Orfidal, Alprazolam, Valium, Lormetazepam, Diazepam)
- Brompheniramine (Ilvico)
- Bupropion (Zyntabac, Elontril)
- Clorpromazine (Largactil)
- Clomipramine (Anafranil)
- Dextromethorphan (Romilar)
- Diphenhydramine (Bisolvon antitussive compositum and others)
- Doxylamine (Cariban, Dormidine and others)
- Ibuprofen
- Naproxen
- Prometazine (Actithiol antihistamine, Fenergan expectorant)
- Quetiapine (Seroquel)
- Ofloxacin (Surnox)
- Ranitidine
- Sertraline
- Tioridazine
- Trazodone (Deprax)
- Venlafaxine
- Verapamil
