Drugged Driving among Sexual Minority Older Adults in the United States, 2015-2019

Introduction Drugged driving, the act of operating vehicles under the influence of one or more illicit substances is responsible for numerous emergency department visits, deaths, and increased medical costs. Despite higher instances of drug use, older sexual minority (LGB) adults are often neglected in prevention efforts. This study assessed inequities between sexual minority older adults and their heterosexual counterparts in drugged driving across three difference substances (alcohol, marijuana, other drugs). Methods Pooled data from individuals 50 years or older (n = 43,238; 1,115 sexual minority adults) in the 2015–2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health were analyzed. Past-year driving under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, and illicit drugs were outcome variables, and survey-weighted frequencies with 95% confidence limits and crude ORs with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated. Results In the past year, 4.82% of older adults drove under the influence of alcohol, 1.33% drove under the influence of marijuana, and 1.48% drove under the influence of illicit drugs. Sexual minority adults consistently showed higher odds of drugged driving than their heterosexual counterparts, with individuals who identify as bisexual being most at risk for driving under the influence of illicit drugs (aOR:4.49, 95%CI: 2.84, 7.08) and marijuana (aOR:3.95, 95%CI: 2.39, 6.51). Discussion There are differences drugged driving by sexual orientation across the three substances we assessed. These rates of substance use among older sexual minority adults warrant ongoing concern, and it is critical to consider differences across the life course in designing and evaluating interventions to address inequities.

Simultaneous analysis of ten drugs of abuse in blood and urine matrix by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry: Implications for air crash investigation

Introduction: Many of abuse drugs can alter a person’s thinking and judgment, leading to health risks, including addiction, drugged driving and infectious disease. Use of illicit drugs by aviation employees is associated with a significantly increased risk of accidents. The detection and quantitation of drugs of abuse in blood is of growing interest in forensic and clinical toxicology. Generally, the screening for drugs of abuse is carried out by using commercially available immunoassay based urine cassettes; however, such results needs to be confirmed by advanced analytical tools like HPLC, GCMS and LCMS. There have been several attempts to develop confirmatory methods for drugs of abuse in blood and urine. Material and Methods: In the present study in our laboratory, a single method was attempted for simultaneous detection and quantification of 10 drugs of abuse in whole blood and urine matrix by GC-MS Selective Ion Monitoring (SIM) method. Results: Chromatographic separation was optimized and achieved for separation of all 10 compounds using Agilent DB-5MS column. Retention time (Rt), selectivity and sensitivity were achieved by measuring each analyte in Selective Ion Monitoring (SIM) mode. A simple sample preparation method was standardized for extraction of all 10 compounds from blood and urine. Conclusion: The developed method in the study permits identification of these analytes from same biological specimen in small quantities and the method is tested on blood and urine matrix spiked with known concentration of pure compounds.