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This study first aimed to investigate the differences in drug driver detection rates between a trial of randomised and targeted enforcement operations. The second aim was to identify which indicator categories are most commonly used by police to target drug drivers and to assess the effectiveness of targeted drug testing. Finally, this study aimed to quantify what specific indicators and cues (of the overarching categories) triggered their decision to drug test drivers and which indicators were most successful.

This research examined the detection rates in a trial comparison of randomised and targeted roadside drug testing (RDT) operations as well as the methods utilised by police in the targeted operations to identify potential drug driving offenders.

Visual appearance was by far the most commonly utilised indicator followed by age, police intelligence on prior charges, vehicle appearance and behavioural cues. However, the use of police intelligence was identified as the most successful indicator that correlated with positive oral fluid testing results. During the randomised RDT operations, 3.4% of all drivers who were tested yielded a positive roadside oral fluid result compared to 25.5% during targeted RDT operations.

The targeted RDT approach, while determined to be an effective detection methodology, limits the overall deterrent effect of roadside testing in a more general driving population, and the need for a balanced approach to ensure detection and deterrence is required. This study highlights that by focussing on night times for randomised RDT operations and the identified effective indicators for targeted operations, an effective balance of deterrence and detection could be achieved.

While the presence of a single indicator is not indicative of a drug driver, this study highlights for police which indicators currently used are more effective at detecting a drug driver. As a result, police could adapt current RDT procedures to focus on the presence of these indicators to support drug driver detection.

This is a world-first study that examines both randomised and targeted roadside drug testing. This study controls for location and time of day while using the same police unit for roadside testing, thus is able to make direct comparisons between the two methodologies to determine the effectiveness of police targeting for roadside drug testing. Furthermore, this study highlights which indicators used by police results in the highest rate of positive roadside drug tests.

The problem of driving while under the influence of drugs has been a growing problem for many years. The police service recognised this more than 10 years ago, and has introduced a system of impairment testing to detect the drug impaired driver. Driving under the influence of drugs is detectable and offenders will be prosecuted.

This paper aims to explore the link between dangerous driving and other criminal behaviour.

Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) five-step process for scoping reviews to identify, summarise and classify identified literature was used. Within the 30-year timeframe (1990–2019), 12 studies met the inclusion criteria.

This review indicates that individuals who commit certain driving offences are more likely to also have a general criminal history. In particular, driving under the influence, driving unlicensed and high-range speeding offences were associated with other forms of criminal behaviour. Seven of the studies mentioned common criminological theories; however, they were not integrated well in the analysis. No studies used explanatory psychosocial theories that investigate social and contextual factors.

Future research in this area would benefit from exploring individual and social influences that contribute to criminal behaviour in both contexts.

There is the potential to develop an information-led policing approach to improve safety on the roads and reduce wider offending behaviour. However, it is critical that road policing officers continue to focus on ensuring the road system is as safe as possible for users.

Criminal behaviour on the roads is often seen as a separate from other types of offending. This paper explores if, and how, these two types of offending are linked.

Road policing is a key method used to improve driver compliance with road laws. However, the authors have a very limited understanding of the perceptions of young drivers regarding police enforcement of road laws. The paper aims to address this gap.

Within this study 238 young drivers from Queensland, Australia, aged 17-24 years (M=18, SD=1.54), with a provisional (intermediate) driver’s licence completed an online survey regarding their perceptions of police enforcement and their driver thrill-seeking tendencies. This study considered whether these factors influenced self-reported transient (e.g. traveling speed) and fixed (e.g. blood alcohol concentration) road violations by the young drivers.

The results indicate that being detected by police for a traffic offence, and the frequency with which they display P-plates on their vehicle to indicate their licence status, are associated with both self-reported transient and fixed rule violations. Licence type, police avoidance behaviors and driver thrill seeking affected transient rule violations only, while perceptions of police enforcement affected fixed rule violations only.

This study suggests that police enforcement of young driver violations of traffic laws may not be as effective as expected and that the authors need to improve the way in which police enforce road laws for young novice drivers.

This paper identifies that perceptions of police enforcement by young drivers does not influence all types of road offences.

This paper aims to consider the nature of cannabis-related harms under the UK’s Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA). Written for the specific context of this four-paper special section on 50 years of the MDA, it argues that the MDA may cause more harm than it prevents.

An opinion piece offering a structured overview of cannabis-related harms under prohibition. It summarises existing evidence of the ways in which prohibition may exacerbate existing – and create new – harms related to the production, distribution, use and control of cannabis.

The paper argues that prohibition of cannabis under the MDA may cause more harm than it prevents.

It has long been argued that the MDA does not accurately or fairly reflect the harms of the substances it prohibits, and much existing research points to different ways in which drug prohibition can itself be harmful. The originality of this paper lies in bringing together these arguments and developing a framework for analysing the contribution of prohibition to drug-related harm.

Despite mixed evidence, researchers often suggest that married adults tend to live generally healthier lifestyles than their unmarried counterparts. In this chapter, we propose and test a reconceptualization of the health lifestyle that distinguishes between “homebody” risks and “hedonic” risks that may help to make sense of previous findings concerning marriage and health-related behavior.

Using data from the 2004 Survey of Adults (n = 1,385), we employ ordinary least squares regression to model indices of normative and conventional homebody risks (greater body mass, infrequent exercise, poorer diet, and abstinence from alcohol) and unconventional and potentially dangerous hedonic risks (smoking, heavy drinking, going out to bars, eating out, inadequate sleep, and driving without seatbelts) as a function of marital status.

Our key findings indicate that married adults tend to score higher on homebody risks and lower on hedonic risks than never married adults, net of controls for age, gender, race/ethnicity, citizenship, interview language, education, employment status, household income, and religious involvement.

Research limitations include cross-sectional data, restricted indicators of health-related behavior, and narrow external validity.

Contrary to previous research, we conclude that the lifestyle of married adults is not uniformly healthy.