Trends in occurrence of drugs of abuse in blood and urine of arrested drivers and drug traffickers in the border region of Aachen

The region of Aachen is located in a triangle on the German, Dutch and Belgian borders and is heavily exposed to drug traffic, due to the differences in national drug policies. The analysis of toxicological casework in the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Aachen was undertaken for the period 1987–1993, i.e. 6 years before and 1 year after the partial suspension of the border control due to the Maastricht Treaty; 2653 cases were registered, among them 988 automobile drivers. The profile of the casework has changed after the opening of the border: up to 1992 most cases were obtained from the customs. In 1993 the prevalence of police samples was noticed. In the population of drivers, blood samples were only taken in 30% of all the cases. In other cases, concerning mainly motorized drug smugglers, only urine samples or seized drugs have been sent for examination. The urine samples in this group were mostly drug-positive. Drug-smuggling drivers appeared to be a risk-generating group for road traffic safety. The analyses of blood and urine samples revealed multiple drug use in most of the cases. Since 1992, a steep increase in the frequency of cocaine-positive blood samples among drivers was noticed. The results of the study indicate that the abolition of the border control affected the road traffic safety in the region of Aachen.