Cannabis and driving: Results from a general population survey

The role of illicit drugs on driving, and particularly of cannabis and driving, is the object of increasing awareness. While there is increasing evidence of their effect on psychomotor performance and increased risk of involvement in traffic accidents, limited information is available concerning factors that can predict the likelihood of driving under the influence of cannabis. The present study aims to determine the past year prevalence of driving under the influence of cannabis, and of being a passenger in a vehicle driven by a person under the influence of cannabis, as well as to examine the correlations with a broad range of potential risk factors. A total of 2500 people, aged between 14 and 70 and living in Castille and Leon (Spain), were surveyed in 2004 with regard to their consumption of alcohol and illicit drugs. Among those who reported cannabis use in the previous year, further assessment was carried out. 15.7% of those surveyed reported cannabis consumption in the previous 12 months, of whom 9.7% reported driving a vehicle under the influence of cannabis during this period, on average eight times. One out of five (19.9%) reported being a passenger in a vehicle driven by a person under the influence of cannabis, on average five times in the previous 12 months. The predictors of driving under the influence of cannabis were the population size of community, the number of drugs consumed, reference to cannabis-related problems and to being a passenger in a vehicle driven by a person under the influence of alcohol. The data show that cannabis consumption and driving is common, and requires more attention from policy makers.     

Drugs and alcohol consumption amongst Spanish drivers.

We have analysed patterns of alcohol and regular drug consumption by Spanish drivers. Six hundred and seventy five properly completed questionnaires were received from drivers attending three medical traffic centres in Valladolid (Spain) for medical examination prior to obtaining or renewing their driving licence in 1990. Among those surveyed, 24% were 'daily' drinkers and 56.7% were 'weekly' drinkers, the majority (55.5%) being 'light' drinkers (1-39 g/day of pure alcohol). Of those surveyed 28.9% took drugs. The most commonly consumed drugs were analgesics (6.5%), anti-allergic drugs (5.2%) and oral contraceptives (4.6%). Of those drivers taking drugs 28.2% were 'daily' drinkers and 53.8% were 'weekly' drinkers. The study indicates widespread consumption of alcohol and drugs by Spanish drivers.     

My Chinese Lauria

正Lauriat:An eight-,nine-,ten-course meal featuring a variety of dishes during special Filipino-Chinese celebrations that last for hours.I have a confession to make.China is not in my list of places to visit.I am not a big fan of Chinese food and I don’t eat anything that looks new to me,especially if it is exotic.In fact,the only tea I drink is iced tea.     

Climate change coalition formation and equilibrium strategies in mitigation games in the post-Kyoto Era

This paper analyzes the formation of country coalitions in the context of international negotiations on climate change mitigation and simulates the emergence of an equilibrium solution in this game-theoretic framework, while accounting for the interplay with external influences. Coalition formation is gauged through clustering analysis on multiple factors including natural, economic, and social factors, RCPs, and other aspects. Projected emission is found to be the main determinant in forming coalitions, and the USA, EU, China?+?India, and the rest of the world constitute the four-coalition configuration that is stable across different scenarios. Under this base configuration, the Regional Integrated Climate-Economy model for Coalition Game model is implemented to assess the sensitivity of equilibrium solutions to parameter uncertainties, sanctions on non-mitigation, and adjustments in coalition composition. The main conclusion of the game simulations is that no coalition would adopt a mitigation strategy at the Nash equilibrium if no penalty is in place. The Nash equilibrium remains stable even when the climatic and economic parameters are disturbed. As an alternative to the conventional game, an external sanction is imposed on coalitions that choose not to mitigate climate change; in this scenario, climate change mitigation propagates across coalitions according to various sanction levels. The paper also shows that a social welfare compensation between two coalitions may alter the equilibrium game strategy depending on whether the compensation outweighs the welfare loss from mitigation.     

The role of Salvadorean NGOs in post-war reconstruction

The Peace Agreement signed recently between the Government and FMLN guerrillas in El Salvador marks the end of a decade of civil war. As both sides of the conflict and the international donor community begin to add up the financial costs of reconstruction, the human, social and psychological costs are carried mainly by the poor of El Salvador. Social organisations and NGOs who became strategists of survival now face the challenge of transforming their accumulated experience into alternative proposals for the building of a more just society and a prosperous nation. This article explores the practical complexities of transition from war to peace; and from emergency aid to sustainable development based on the participation of communities, social organisations, NGOs, and international agencies; and the challenges of building on their experience.     

Alcohol,illicit drugs and medicinal drugs in fatally injured drivers in Spain between 1991 and 2000

The aim of this study was to assess the presence of alcohol, illicit drugs and medicinal drugs among Spanish drivers involved in fatal road accidents between 1991 and 2000. Samples were obtained for 5745 drivers killed in road accidents from January 1991 to December 2000. Of the samples, 91.7% represented males and 8.3% females; 40.7% were under 30 years of age, 31.9% were under 31-50 years of age, 19.5% were over 51 years of age, and for 7.9% the age was unknown. Between 1991 and 2000, some type of psychoactive substance was detected among 50.1% of those drivers killed in road accidents, this being mainly alcohol (43.8%) and, less frequently, illicit drugs (8.8%) and medicinal drugs (4.7%). In all the cases, in which alcohol was detected, combined use with other substances accounted for only 12.5%, whilst in the case of illicit and medicinal drugs, figures representing combined use with other substances were 75.6% for the former and 65.8% for the latter. For one in every three cases (32.0%), a blood alcohol level over 0.8 g/l was recorded; cocaine (5.2%), opiates (3.2%) and cannabis (2.2%) were the three illicit drugs most frequently detected. Among medicinal drugs, were benzodiazepines (3.4%), anti-depressant drugs (0.6%) and analgesics (0.4%). The results show the frequent presence of psychoactive substances, particularly alcohol, among Spanish motor vehicle users involved in fatal road accidents. It should be pointed out that illicit and medicinal drugs in combination with other substances were a common feature.     

Simultaneous determination of thirteen beta-blockers and one metabolite by gradient high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode-array UV detection

A new rapid and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed for the simultaneous identification and quantification in human plasma of the 13 most commonly prescribed beta-blockers and one active metabolite-atenolol, sotalol, diacetolol, carteolol, nadolol, pindolol, acebutolol, metoprolol, celiprolol, oxprenolol, labetalol, propranolol, tertatolol and betaxolol. It involves liquid-liquid extraction procedures followed by liquid chromatography coupled to photodiode-array UV detection with a fixed wavelength at 220 nm for quantification. Compounds were separated on a 5 microm Hypurity C(18) (ThermoHypersil) analytical column (250 mm x 4.6 mm, i.d.) using a gradient of acetonitrile-phosphate buffer pH 3.8 at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min. The total analysis time was 26 min per sample. Extraction recoveries were between 74 and 113% for the polar compounds and between 20 and 56% for the most apolar compounds. Calibration lines were linear in the range from 25 to 1000 ng/ml for all compounds excepted carteolol and nadolol (50-1000 ng/ml), all of them with coefficients of determination (r2 values) >/=0.994. Limits of detection (LODs) ranged from 5 to 10 ng/ml. Intra-assay and inter-assay precision and accuracy were studied at two concentration levels (100 and 500 ng/ml). The intra-assay coefficients of variation (CVs) for all compounds were 相似文献