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Government Launches Anti-Drug Driving Campaign
Mon, 17 Aug 2009

A new £2.3 million anti drug driving campaign is set to launch today in England and Wales.

The TV advertising campaign warns of the dangers of driving after taking drugs and highlights the fact that police will able to tell if a driver is under the influence of drugs because of the effect it will have on their eyes.

It also warns that anyone convicted of drug driving will face the same penalties as motorists caught driving over the alcohol limit - a minimum 12-month driving ban, a criminal record and a large fine.

The first advert under the new initiative, which will air tonight before Coronation Street, shows a young man driving with friends whose enlarged pupils prove a telltale sign of drug use to officers.

The move comes after research by the Department for Transport alarmingly found one in ten young male drivers in the UK get behind the wheel of a car while under the influence of illegal drugs .

It also revealed that a fifth of young drivers killed in road accidents may have an impairing drug in their system.

Transport secretary Lord Adonis said the £2.3 million campaign would be "money well spent" if it significantly reduced the number of deaths caused by drug driving.

He commented: "Our own research not only showed the high prevalence of drug driving but it also showed that particularly young men, when driving under the influence of drugs, do not accept that it is dangerous."

"This is really worrying because whereas with drink driving people accept that it is dangerous - it is a big social stigma, everyone knows that the law will come down hard on you and that you can kill - with drugs it isn't the same."

"What we are seeking to do with this advertising campaign is to bring about a cultural change, to get people, particularly young men, to take the same attitude to drug driving that for 20 or 30 years we have had with drink driving."

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) added: "Those willing to endanger themselves and others by getting behind the wheel after taking drugs need to know that it is simply not true that they will evade detection or prosecution ."

"We hope this sorely-needed campaign will give drug users, as well as the general public, pause for thought so that they consider their actions before needlessly putting other people's lives at risk. Passengers should also think carefully before getting into a car if they suspect its driver has taken drugs."
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