New MMWR Report: Alcohol and Other Drug Use Among Victims of Motor-Vehicle Crashes

The current issue of MMWR reports on Alcohol and Other Drug Use Among Victims of Motor-Vehicle Crashes --- West Virginia, 2004--2005 and finds that the percentage of drug-positive drivers typically is lower than the percentage of alcohol-positive drivers in U.S. studies of motor-vehicle crashes. Recent reviews indicate that 5%--25% of drivers involved in motor-vehicle crashes have positive drug tests. An NHTSA study of U.S. motor-vehicle crashes during 1990--1991 determined that drugs were involved in 17.8% of driver fatalities wih marijuana as the most common drug found in such studies of fatally injured drivers, followed by cocaine, benzodiazepines, and amphetamines.

This report differs from previous reports in terms of the relatively high prevalence of drugs among drivers in West Virginia and the finding that prescription drugs (e.g., opioid analgesics and depressants) were more prevalent than illicit drugs. Although, the findings in West Virginia cannot be extrapolated to the entire United States , these results might reflect recent nationwide growth in the volume of prescriptions for opioid analgesics and other potentially impairing medications and how this growth in these prescriptions are affecting the number of motor-vehicle crashes.

For the full report, please visit the CDC's MMWR site here.