The Prevalence of Illicit Drugs and Alcohol in Road Traffic Accident Fatalities in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The study aims to investigate the prevalence of alcohol and illicit drugs in Road Traffic Accident fatalities from January 2015 to December 2019 in Eastern region -Saudi Arabia. From a total of 1939 deaths investigated in the Dammam Poison Control Center, only 57 of them were related to Road Traffic Accidents (RTA), of which 96.4% were males, 36.8% were in the age group between 18-30 years. The highest incidence was among Saudi nationals (82.5%). 70.2% of the investigated cases tested positive for ethanol either alone or with other illicit drugs, cannabis ranked the second (38.6%), followed by amphetamine (17%) and heroin (10%). Ethanol was the sole toxicological finding in (57.5%). The single drug-abusing pattern (50.9%) exceeded bi-and triple drug-abusing pattern (31.5 %). None of the investigated samples showed a positive result for illicit cocaine or benzodiazepines. In Conclusion, ethanol identified as a key element, being the highest frequently detected substance in the blood samples of RTA victims which mandates the need for planning appropriate interventions and more strict application of Saudi national program for drug prevention together with wide community action.

The Need for Standards Unification in Forensic Laboratory Practices: Protocol for Setting Up the Arab Forensic Laboratories Accreditation Center

“…These challenges definitely pose a continuing and serious threat to the quality and truthfulness of forensic science practice. it is evident that change and advancements, both systemic and scientific, are necessary to ensure reliability, exchange experiences, establish enforceable standards, and promote best practices and their consistency in the field of forensic sciences [ 6 , 7 ]. Establishing standards for the accreditation of forensic science laboratories and the certification of forensic scientists and medical examiners or forensic pathologists play a vital role in promoting the development of forensic science and achievement of best practices [ 8 ].…”