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CHAPTER 5: EXPLANATIONS OF DRUG DRIVING AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE LAW
Objectives
The main objectives of this section are to:
- gain a better understanding of the different motivations that lead people to drug drive
- discuss the findings of the qualitative research that suggests there are two explanations for drug driving: positive incentives and lack of deterrents.
- compare attitudes towards the laws on drug driving among different groups
Key Findings
Explanations of drug driving
Depth interviews
Two main explanation categories for drug driving emerged.
Explanation 1: Both the recreational and problem drug users said that they drove while impaired because it was more convenient than any other form of transport.
Explanation 2: There was a lack of deterrents to dissuade both groups of drug users from drug driving. First, they did not think that taking drugs had a detrimental effect on their driving. Second, people did not believe that they would get caught. (This was supported by findings from the survey).
Attitudes towards the law
Survey
More survey respondents agreed than disagreed with a statement that drug driving was more dangerous than drunk driving. This was also a prevalent view in the depth interviews.
Almost all of the survey respondents agreed that the police should be able to stop and test people for drugs
Depth interview
Both groups of users had punitive attitudes towards drug driving and thought that the police should be able to stop and test people and that those caught should receive a suitable punishment.
Explanations of drug driving
During the qualitative depth interviews, participants were asked to provide explanations for why they drug drive. Two main categories of explanation emerged, that there are positive incentives associated with driving and there is a lack of disincentives to act as effective deterrents.
Explanation 1: Positive incentives associated with driving
The majority of recreational drug users said they drove while impaired as part of their social activities, e.g. going to or from a friend's house, a pub or a club. There was a general feeling that driving was a more convenient method of travel than public transport.
…we'd meet up in somebody's house, some of us would be having a drink or whatever, smoking cannabis or whatever and then go out to whatever pub, club or whatever and then go home after it
Recreational user
If I have had a smoke and I need to go and do something I do it for the convenience of just jumping in the car
Recreational user
Ah used tae go tae the Arches right, and you'd come out in winter nights and you'd be bloody freezing….. so you'd go --- it, ah'll take the car 'cause there's an NCP car park across the road, know what ah mean 13.
Recreational user
The problem drug users had a wider range of positive incentives for drug driving although the convenience of driving still dominated. One of the main uses of the car for this group was to get drugs; it was quicker, more convenient and offered more privacy than public transport or taxis. It also offered the option of obtaining drugs from outside the area in which they lived, an attractive option to some as it concealed that aspect of their lives from neighbours.
We've got a fresh start. None o' the neighbours know any of ma past, they don't know any of ma business. Goin' aboot as a normal family, that's all they see, d'ye know what ah mean. And it's made a big different tae the kids. They're getting' good at school and everythin' noo considerin' what they've been through in the past, ken, and that's kept away fae ma life noo.
Problem user
Explanation 2: Lack of deterrents to prevent drug driving
The second strand of explanation of drug driving centred on the lack of effective deterrents to drug driving. Lack of concern over driving and a belief that they would not get caught were the focus of most of the discussion.
Effect on driving
That drivers were not concerned about the effect of drugs on driving first became apparent in the results from the survey. Figure 5.1 shows that fewer of the drug drivers identified in the survey were concerned about their driving (28% very/fairly concerned) than not concerned (63% not very/not at all concerned).
Figure 5.1 Levels of concern about driving when under the influence of drugs
Base: All drug drivers (36)
Related to this, almost half (47%) of drug drivers said they did not think that the drugs had an effect on their driving and 9% said they thought the drugs made their driving better (see Figure 5.2).
Figure 5.2 Effects of drugs on driving ability
Base: All drug drivers (36)
This notion of drugs not having an effect on driving was also prevalent in the depth interviews. The majority of the recreational users interviewed did not feel that they posed any significant risk to themselves, passengers or other road users while driving under the influence of drugs. Some recreational users also felt that their driving was actually enhanced as a result of the effects of certain drugs. For example, some claimed that cannabis made them safer drivers because they drove more carefully.
Ah dinnae feel as if ah wis taking a risk, ah wisnae getting intae a car and thinking oh ah'm taking a hell of a risk here. Ah know it's illegal to drive under the influence of drugs but ah could never see it that way
Recreational user
…Yes, you would be able to concentrate but if you had just smoked a little bit you would be able to concentrate really well probably better than you would normally, because you are aware of your surroundings a lot more…
Recreational user
However, this was not a view shared by all of the recreational users. Others felt that the drugs impaired their concentration and reactions, even if they were driving slowly.
I mean I've seen me driving about 30mph and I would still be going through red lights. Your mind is focussed on the road. You're seeing it in front of you but you're over-focussed I think. You think you are going faster than what you are and you still drive through red lights.
Recreational user
I think if you are on a dark road and there is a car coming it just doesn't feel right so you slow down until you are almost stopped. You are maybe only doing 5mph so that causes problems on the road if you are going too slow.
Recreational user
The situation is different for the problem drug users as most of this group take drugs to remove symptoms of withdrawal and return to a state of "normality". Therefore, most believed that their driving abilities and concentration were the same as when straight.
See but ah dinnae feel like ah'm under the influence. Ah feel normal after ah've taken a burn a' heroin, ah jist feel normal. Ah'm takin' it really tae feel like ah should feel.
Problem user
It's jist normal, under the influence of heroin ah dinnae feel any different really and ah dinnae feel that it mind-alters me at all. Like heroin's jist necessity for me just now, it keeps me normal, it stops me being ill. Ah hardly ever get tae the point of being stoned and enjoying the drug now, it's more about living with it ye know.
Problem user
However, not all heroin users believed that they were entirely unaffected by drugs, even when they had taken just enough to feel 'normal.' Some of their accounts suggested that driving under the influence of heroin - however 'stable' they might feel - is not quite the same as driving when drug-free. These interviewees acknowledged that their reflexes were slower and their concentration was poorer.
Ah know that although ah feel that ah'm perfectly in control and ah feel fine and ah feel that ah'm a good driver ah know that ah'm no as good as ah wid be if ah'm straight. You've no got the same reflexes as whit you wid huv if you were straight.
Problem user
Risk of being caught
The second view that limits deterrence is that a majority of the survey respondents, as well as a majority of those who had drug driven, felt that there is little likelihood that a person driving while impaired by drugs would be caught.
All survey respondents were asked if they thought that someone could be prosecuted for driving while under the influence of illegal drugs in Scotland. An overwhelming majority (92%) indicated that they thought this was correct. Despite this, less than a third (28%) said they thought it was likely that someone driving under the influence of illegal drugs would be caught, compared with 72% who said it was unlikely.
More encouragingly, 31% of respondents disagreed with the statement 'I have never heard of the police catching anyone for drug driving', indicating that almost 70% had heard of someone being caught, or at least could not be sure they had not. Over half (55%) of the drug drivers identified by the survey said they were not concerned about being stopped by the police while they were drug driving.
Consistent with these survey findings, the majority of recreational users interviewed in the depth interviews believed that the likelihood of being apprehended while drug driving was very low. There was a widespread view that the effects of drugs on driving are negligible and would not lead to someone being stopped on suspicion of driving under the influence. This is contrasted with drunk driving, where the effects of excess alcohol on driving are well-known.
People are more aware of drunk drivers. You don't always know when someone is under the influence of drugs and driving.
Recreational user
Even if someone were stopped and tested, the recreational users felt that the police currently cannot accurately test for impairment, reinforcing the view that they would not be caught. Some also believed that they would be able to hide the fact that they had been using drugs.
….. because you know that you're not supposed to take drugs and drive but at the time you also think well ah don't think they're advanced enough tae catch me so ah'm gonnae just risk it and go.
Recreational user
Ah think a lot of people believe that basically you can't get caught if you're drug driving because you can't just blow in a bag. Ah mean I don't know what tests there are but ah would imagine they don't have a breath test for drugs at the moment, plus people think they can hide it a lot easier than they can alcohol.
Recreational user
The problem drug users had slightly different experiences but reported similar reasons for why they would not get caught. Like the recreational users, the problem drug users did not think that their driving was sufficiently erratic to attract the attention of the police - " I just look normal. I'm not wasted. I'm not all over the place, falling asleep or nothing you know."
It was common for problem drug users to report having been stopped by the police while impaired and not to have been tested. Those who had been tested said that the tests were not sufficiently sensitive to determine whether someone was adversely affected by drugs, consistent with the views of the recreational drug users. Some reported experiences where they had been under the influence of a large amount of drugs but the tests had not identified they had been using drugs.
They (police) says, 'Could you walk alang that line?' Ah says, 'Aye.' So ah walked along the line. Then it wis dae that wi your nose, dae this, dae that. They turnt roon and went like that tae me, you've passed. Ah wis birlin by the way and they passed me…... Ah had taken 35 valium, 70ml of Meth. and they could not detect that ah had anything in me…
Problem user
Attitudes towards drug driving and the law
There were various questions included in the survey relating to attitudes towards drug driving and the law on drug driving. This theme was also prevalent in the depth interviews where more insight was gained on why people who had used drugs held these views.
Attitudes to drug driving were measured in the survey and were also compared with attitudes towards drunk driving. Respondents were asked if they agreed with the statement 'Taking drugs and driving is more dangerous than drunk driving'. Almost half of respondents (46%) agreed and one in ten (11%) disagreed. The majority of respondents (53%) also agreed that someone under the influence of drugs is less likely to get caught than someone who is drunk. Almost all survey respondents (93%) said that the police should be able to stop and test people they suspect are driving while impaired.
Consistent with this, the recreational users in the depth interviews were unanimous in their belief that the police should have the right to stop and test anyone they suspected of being impaired by drugs or alcohol. There was a general feeling that anyone found by the police to be impaired through drugs should receive the same penalty as one would expect to receive for drunk driving.
The problem drug users had similar punitive attitudes towards those who drove while under the influence of drugs and they also supported surveillance and possible apprehension as entirely appropriate. A widespread view was that these individuals posed a risk to members of the interviewee's own family, so they had a vested interest in the behaviour being controlled.
Ah definitely think they (police) should have the right to be able to pull me over if they think ah haven't been driving carefully enough. Ah could kill somebody's kid and ah know how ah would feel if somebody under the influence of drink or drugs killed one of ma kids.
Problem user
Some of the problem drug users were uncompromising when it came to the law and the conviction of those guilty of drug driving offences. Reasonable punishments included an immediate ban from driving for those caught under the influence of drugs and hefty penalties for those convicted of more serious offences.
If you kill somebody then you should go tae jail for a long time, no' this community service and banned for six year carry on that they get the noo. Ah don't agree wi' it at all. If you kill somebody…….a car's as good as a gun tae kill somebody, ye point it and fire it at them, know what ah mean.
Problem user
However, both groups of drug users did not believe that it would be appropriate to convict people irrespective of the amount of the drug they had taken and the extent to which they were affected by it. A frequently held view was that there should be a set limit for the amount of drugs permitted and that any test should take into account an individual's own tolerance level.
Well they…….. could be like tested and ah don't jist mean as em like breath samples and blood samples and things like that but how you react on the road ……like a simulated… test tae see how fit ye are tae drive. Jist because ye've got that in yer system doesn't mean that yer unfit.
If there was an effective test available to the police, many of the recreational users said it would deter them from drug driving. This indicates the potential importance of authorities developing a sophisticated way of identifying drug driving.
You just wouldnae be able to do it. It would come down to that risk element in driving and it'd just be… you wouldnae be able to do it. It'd be like going out to drink and drive. I mean that's putting your livelihood at risk. If that's the way the government are looking to push it, you wouldnae be able to do it and drive.
Recreational user
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