Transport Secretary cracks down on drug driving to protect the public

DRUG drivers could be required to undertake rehabilitation courses before being allowed back behind the wheel, under new plans to address this underestimated social problem.

Drink drive related deaths and injuries are now very rare on UK roads, with deaths having fallen 88% between:- 1979 and 2015. However, there has been an increase in drug related driving offences, with over 12,000 convicted in 2019 and 44% committed by re-offenders.

713 people were seriously injured in drug-driving collisions in 2020, up from 499 in 2016, and some Police Forces are arresting more drug drivers than drink drivers. That's why the Government is taking action to protect the public and make drug driving as much of a:- "social taboo" as drink driving.

Currently, those convicted of drug driving are handed a driving ban, prison sentence or fine by the courts, but aren't required to complete rehabilitation courses before resuming driving; unlike drink drivers. In a call for evidence, Government is asking whether drug drivers should likewise have to undergo rehabilitation, helping better protect the public.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:- "Drink driving is now rightly seen as a social taboo by most of us in this country and we have worked hard to drive down drink drive related deaths. But if we are to make our roads safer still, there is no room to be lax on drug driving, which is why I have launched this call for evidence today. It's only right that drug drivers must undergo rehabilitation before getting back behind the wheel, helping protect the public from this hidden problem and stamping out drug driving for good."

Statistics show non-attendees to drink driving rehabilitation courses are over twice as likely to commit a new drink driving offence within 3 years, so by offering high risk drug driving offenders the same support, Government hopes to bring down the number of repeat offenders.

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said:- "Drug driving ruins lives and threatens the safety of all road users. We welcome proposals to offer drug driving offenders rehabilitation courses, in the same way those caught drink driving are offered them, because the evidence shows this helps to reduce reoffending and improves road safety."

Professor Kim Wolff, MBE, King's College London, said:- "I was delighted to see the launch of the consultation on a High-Risk Offender (HRO) Scheme for drug drivers and the Drug Driving Rehabilitation (DDR) course, as part of an ongoing programme of work being undertaken by the DfT to improve road safety. Data gathered over the last 6 years has enabled the DfT to identify through an Expert Panel very high risk drug driving behaviours warranting the need for a High Risk Offender Scheme, which rolled out alongside the DDR will help improve driver behaviours as well as provide more general societal benefits."

The call for evidence launched today will also ask whether we should bring the way specimens are taken in line with current medical practice by using vacuum blood extraction, decreasing the risk of blood borne viruses to healthcare professionals.

It will also seek views on the relationship between medicinal cannabis and road safety, in another move to ensure road safety policy keeps up to date with changing societal norms.

This is the 1st of several steps Government is taking this year to reduce the problem of drink and drug driving. Later this year, Government will seek views on other drink and drug driving matters, such as failing to stop after a collision and the criminal use of vehicles.

This follows the ongoing success of the Government's THINK! Campaign which has been educating drivers about the dangers of drink driving since 2000.

What are your thoughts on this issue? Please do email us to:-News24@SouthportReporter.Com and let us know.

Biggest study of its kind implicates specific genes in schizophrenia

THE largest ever genetic study of schizophrenia has identified large numbers of specific genes that could play important roles in the psychiatric disorder. A group of hundreds of researchers across 45 countries analysed DNA from 76,755 people with schizophrenia and 243,649 without it to better understand the genes and biological processes underpinning the condition. The Psychiatric Genomics Consortium study, led by scientists at Cardiff University, found a much larger number of genetic links to schizophrenia than ever before, in 287 different Regions of the genome, the human body's DNA blueprint. Furthermore, they showed that genetic risk for schizophrenia is seen in genes concentrated in brain cells called neurons, but not in any other tissue or cell type, suggesting it is the biological role of these cells that is crucial in schizophrenia.

The research team say this global study sheds the strongest light yet on the genetic basis of schizophrenia. It is published today in leading international journal Nature. The Co-lead Author, Professor Michael O'Donovan, from the Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, at Cardiff University said:- "Previous research has shown associations between schizophrenia and many anonymous DNA sequences, but rarely has it been possible to link the findings to specific genes. The present study not only vastly increased the number of those associations, but we have now been able to link many of them to specific genes, a necessary step in what remains a difficult journey towards understanding the causes of this disorder and identifying new treatments."

Schizophrenia is a serious psychiatric disorder that starts in late adolescence or early adulthood and at any 1 time affects around 1 in 300 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. In the largest genome wide association study to date, the research team identified a:- "substantial increase" in the number of genomic Regions associated with schizophrenia. Within these Regions, they then used advanced methods to identify 120 genes likely to contribute to the disorder. As well as being the largest study of its kind, the researchers included more than 7,000 people with either African American or Latino ancestries in what they say is a small step towards making sure advances that come from genetic studies can benefit people beyond those of European ancestries. Although there are large numbers of genetic variants involved in schizophrenia, the study showed they are concentrated in genes expressed in neurons, pointing to these cells as the most important site of pathology. The findings also suggest abnormal neuron function in schizophrenia affects many brain areas, which could explain its diverse symptoms, which can include hallucinations, delusions and problems with thinking clearly.

The team's ability to link to specific genes and areas of biology was enhanced by co-ordinating their work with a companion study involving many of the same scientists, including those from Cardiff University, led by the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and published in Nature in parallel. That study looked at mutations that, while very rare, have large effects on the small proportion of people that carry them, and found overlapping genes and overlapping aspects of biology.

Professor James Walters, co-lead author on the Cardiff led paper and Director of the MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics at Cardiff University, said:- "Whilst people with schizophrenia can recover, many do not respond well to treatments, experience long-term problems with their mental and physical health, as well as impacts on relationships, education and work. We hope the findings in this, and the companion studies, can be used to advance our understanding of the disorder and facilitate the development of radically new treatments. However, those processes are often not straightforward, and a lot of work by other neuroscientists is needed to translate the genetic findings into a detailed understanding of disease mechanisms."

The Psychiatric Genomics Consortium is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of the USA and work in Cardiff was additionally supported by the Medical Research Council. Dr Joshua Gordon, Director of NIMH, said:- "These results, achieved through a global collaboration unprecedented in scope, mark an important step forward in our understanding of the origins of schizophrenia. The findings will allow researchers to focus on specific brain pathways in the ongoing hunt for novel therapies for this serious mental illness."

This study has demonstrated the importance and power of large samples in genetic studies to gain insights into psychiatric disorders. The team are now seeking to recruit more research participants and build larger, more diverse datasets to further advance our understanding of schizophrenia. To take part in their online study on psychosis and schizophrenia, visit:- NCMH.Info/PSResearch.