Survey shows risks of driving after drinking cough mixture
Driving under the influence of depressants such as cough mixture almost doubles the risk of road accidents, researchers at Bangkok's Ramathibodi Hospital said.
They also found that the use of depressants had dramatically increased. A preliminary analysis of the study, which is now 68-per-cent complete, suggested the influence of cough-relieving codeine put drivers at 1.8 times the normal risk of having an accident, said lead researcher Dr Patarawan Woratanarat. Started in March and scheduled to end in November, the study looks into the association between the use of certain depressants by 170 experiment-group drivers and their accident rate, compared with 660 control-group drivers. The complete analysis of the research is expected to be available in November and will provide evidence for policy-makers to consider, said Patarawan. Previous studies abroad showed the influence of depressants was equivalent to 50-79 milligrams (mg) per decilitre (dL) in blood-alcohol levels, which resulted in a five-fold increase in the risk of road accidents, said Dr Atiporn Tongpae, a co-researcher. Under Thai law, a blood-alcohol level of 50 mg/dL or over is regarded as illegal drunk driving. Either with or without doctors' prescriptions, there had been a dramatic increase in the use of depressants in Thailand, said Atiporn. The use of anti-depressant drugs had also increased alarmingly in only a couple of years, from 167 million tablets in 2001 to 705 million in 2003. Bangkok had the highest rate of use. An associated field study of 1,214 drivers throughout the country between December 2005 and May 2006 showed that just over one in 10 used legal or illegal depressants. Cold remedies such as chlorpheniramine and codeine were most common in the legal depressant group, whereas amphetamines and cannabis dominated the illegal group. A survey found small hospitals around the country, excluding Bangkok, each year issued 10 million prescriptions for depressants, accounting for 25 per cent of all prescriptions given. Atiporn said the figure did not include depressants prescribed at larger hospitals and medical centres in every province as well as in Bangkok. Using the rate of depressant use among drivers, researchers estimated that there were about 7,000 people who drove under the influence of depressants daily. More than half of the depressants were not prescribed by doctors.
Arthit Khwankhom The Nation
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