Interesting to note the part where it makes reference to swiping...

Interesting to note the part where it makes reference to swiping a strip across the driver’s tongue.

Pilot test for drugging and driving
Lauren Cohen
Published:Nov 23, 2008
Shocking details about South African motorists’ use of illegal drugs have emerged for the first time.
A pilot roadside drug testing study of drivers at 22 roadblocks over eight months in Gauteng and the Western Cape found 14% of them to be under the influence.
The technology detects cocaine, dagga, ecstasy, opiates (heroin), methamphetamines (tik) and amphetamine (speed) within minutes of swiping a strip across the driver’s tongue.
The results have alarmed the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), which is developing a national strategy to enable police to detect the presence of drugs in motorists.
Trimega Diagnostics, a private company run by Avi Lasarow and Ashley Uys, did the tests in joint operations with traffic and metro police in Cape Town and Johannesburg. At the roadblocks, 269 motorists out of about 3000 were tested.
The intention of the pilot was only to screen for drugs and not to prosecute, as test results from the equipment are not yet admissible in court.
Some of the findings, which will be released in full on Tuesday, are that:
• In Gauteng, 8% of motorists screened for drugs tested positive and in the Western Cape 15%;
• Five percent of motorists tested positive for both alcohol and drugs;
• The highest percentages for drug use nationally were in central Cape Town (50%) Mitchells Plain (33%) and Hout Bay (33%);
• Drug-impaired driving was mostly observed later in the evening but occurred throughout the day; and
• The average age of drivers who tested positive for drugs in their systems was 29.8 years.
Department of Transport spokesman Ntau Letebele was concerned by the results and planned to obtain court admissibility for the equipment.
Western Cape motorists can expect to be drug tested at roadblocks over the festive season, said Community Safety MEC Patrick McKenzie.
Professor Charles Parry, director of the Medical Research Centre’s Alcohol & Drug Abuse Research Unit, said better forensic testing was needed.