December 8, 2017
Police announced that between December 11 and 24 an extensive inspection of drivers will take place across the country, which will include testing for both alcohol and illegal drugs. For the purpose of the latter the Slovenian traffic safety agency has already purchased an additional 1,000 quick drug-testing kits, and delivered them to the police officers which will need to use them in the upcoming weeks. The project will include at least one area of total traffic closure per police administrative unit for full inspection of every driver that will pass through it.
Ivan Kapun, from the General Police Directorate, told MMC RTV Slovenija that young drivers in in particular believe it is easy to get away with DUI if under the influence of illegal drugs, as the police mostly check for drunken driving. However, Igor Velov, director of the Traffic Safety Agency, told MMC RTV Slovenija of data that show the pervasiveness of drug use among Slovenian drivers, and thus this issue is a growing concern.
The most popular drugs of choice for Slovenian drivers appear to be marijuana, cocaine and amphetamines. The drugs to be used this December involve the subject putting a sample sheet on their tongue for five seconds until the sheet turns red, and then the sheet with the saliva sample is inserted into a testing strip. If the line on the strip turns red, the test is positive and the officer can order the driver to take a further blood or urine test, which are the tests that count as legal evidence. If a driver refuses to take the test then they are treated as if they tested positive, and receive a 1,200 EUR fine and their driving licence is cancelled.
This year police carried out around 2,500 rapid drug tests. A total of 559 drivers refused the test and lost their driving licences, while 753 were referred for further testing, of which the presence of drugs was confirmed in 122 cases.
