Driving license withdrawal even with low amphetamine levels

Administrative court Neustadt: even one-time consumption is sufficient
Neustadt / Wine Route (jur). Even small amounts of amphetamine in the blood justify the withdrawal of the driver's license. This was clarified by the Administrative Court Neustadt an der Weinstraße in a decision announced on Wednesday, April 27, 2016 (Ref .: 1 L 269 / 16.NW). According to the driving license regulation, motorists and motorcyclists are unsuitable for driving a motor vehicle even after a single use of the "hard drug".

In the specific case, a man had been caught in a police check with his motorcycle. Because of drug suspicion, a blood sample was taken. It detected amphetamine at a concentration of 0.018 milligrams per liter. Amphetamine is an illegal, synthetically manufactured drug known as a mixture of various amphetamines also known as "Speed". The powder is usually "sniffed" through the nose.

Picture: eyetronic - fotolia

One expert stated that even small amounts of amphetamine can have a "residual effect". Especially in the decay phase it could come to "severe psychophysical exhaustion states".

The driving license authority pulled then the driver's license of the man. After unsuccessful opposition, the motorcyclist went to court and applied for interim relief. He said he had been enticed at a festival after considerable alcohol consumption to briefly pull on a "line" amphetamine. After that, he deliberately did not drive or drive his motorbike for five days, so the drug could be broken down.

Like the driving license authority, the Neustadt administrative court was not impressed. According to the relevant provisions of the driving license regulation, the one-time use of a "hard drug" such as amphetamine already leads to the "inappropriate ability to drive a motor vehicle on public roads". This is true even if the person did not drive under the influence of the drug. Reason for this strict regulation is the high danger of the drug.

Therefore, it does not matter here that in the blood of the motorcyclist only very little amphetamine was found, stressed the Administrative Court in its now announced decision of 20 April 2016. (mwo / fle)