Heavy Duty Trucking, September 2019

Speedball dangers Theres also what we at Psychemedics call the new cocaine Kubacki says cocaine mixed with fentanyl a powerful opioid 100 times the potency of morphine Thats where this is becoming even more dangerous where you see the trucking industry having cocaine as number one The fentanyl is a phantom killer Pharmaceutical fentanyl was developed for pain management treatment of cancer patients applied in a patch on the skin the DEA says in a fact sheet But because of its powerful opioid properties fentanyl is also diverted for abuse Fentanyl use can result in an intense short term high temporary euphoria slowed respiration reduced blood pressure nausea fainting seizures and death It may be consumed alone or in combination with other drugs The DEA drug assessment reports that fentanyl is increasingly being deliberately mixed with cocaine to create a speedball or with cocaine and heroin for a super speedball The presence of fentanyl contaminated cocaine is also rising says the DEA report Fentanyl cocaine mixtures often target a user base that is typically unaware it is consuming fentanyl and thus more likely to have an adverse reaction than one who intentionally sought out the opioid the report notes The increasing number of deaths associated with fentanyl has regulators and drug testing companies concerned and federal officials have been evaluating whether to add fentanyl in the federal drug testing program according the minutes of a December 2018 meeting of the U S Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations Drug Testing Advisory Board SAMHSA is part of the Department of Health and Human Services which is responsible for issuing drug testing guidelines for the government Wilbert Burnsworth of Connellsville Pennsylvania was the driver of that tri axle dump truck whos facing murder charges According to published reports he was found to have benzoylecgonine a derivative of cocaine as well as fentanyl and norfentanyl in his system at the time of the crash A witness told state police that before the crash the tri axle loaded with coal passed her and two vehicles in front of her at a high rate of speed crossing the double yellow line several times at one point completely in the opposing lane of traffic Burnsworth was charged with three counts each of third degree murder aggravated assault homicide by vehicle while DUI aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI homicide by vehicle DUI involuntary manslaughter recklessly endangering another person and aggravated assault by vehicle and one count of risking catastrophe In 1973 Jim Croce wrote the song Speedball Tucker about a trucker in a broken down rig driving with a cupful of cold black coffee and a pocketful of West Coast turn arounds uppers But todays version of speedball is far more dangerous HDT SEPTEMBER 2019 74 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM cial motor vehicle crashes and indirect measures of driver performance Acclaro found there is moderate evidence to support the contention that licit legal use of opioids increases the risk of a motor vehicle crash as well as moderate evidence that legal use of opioids negatively impacts indirect measures of driver performance Studies generally found indicators of impairment especially for drug naïve individuals Impairment was most pronounced on psychomotor vigilance tasks related to pertinent driving skills such as attention vision auditory perception and reaction time the researchers reported However researchers said fewer studies included driving simulators or roadside driving tests Where those tests were included findings tended not to be significant And findings varied across drug and dose And the study found consistent data suggest that the negative impacts of opioids on driving and driving related skills diminish over time when doses remain stable Perhaps a more serious issue is that legal use of opioids can morph into addiction and illegal use According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse roughly 21 to 29 of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them Between 8 and 12 develop an opioid use disorder and an estimated 4 to 6 who misuse prescription opioids transition to heroin In fact about 80 of people who use heroin first misused prescription opioids The use and availability of illegal opioids such as heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl continues to increase in the United States according to the Drug Enforcement Administrations 2018 National Drug Threat Assessment published in October 2018 PART 3 C O C A I N E O P I O I D S A N D T R U C K D R I V E R S TRUCKING UNDER THE INFLUENCE PART 3 There are a lot of people in society on prescription meds and drivers are no different Dave Osiecki Scopelitis Transportation and Consulting One of the longstanding concerns about prescription drugs and truck drivers is whether the doctor who prescribed the drug really understands the role the driver plays and the safety rules around the driver says Dave Osiecki president Scopelitis Transportation and Consulting However Osiecki says The certified medical examiner process hopefully has cleaned some of that up Hes referring to the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners a federal rule was published in 2012 setting up the system The registry is a database of medical professionals who are certified by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to perform medical examinations of commercial vehicle drivers A general medical practitioner may have skill diagnosing and treating disease but may not fully understand DOT regulations including those regarding drug use nor all of the duties of a driver and how drugs may affect his or her job Medical examiners must now be trained on the FMCSAs physical qualification standards by a nationally recognized medical profession accrediting organization and pass a certification test They can then apply online and are included in the National Registry Drivers must use providers on this registry for their physicals to get their required medical cards PRESCRIPTION DRUGS AND THE FEDERAL REGISTRY OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS Watch for additional installments in this series at www truckinginfo com undertheinfluence BONUS