Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu recently stated that there was no driver who lost their license because they took a cold pill, but a specific case contradicts this.
A 28-year-old man was stopped by the police on February 17, 2024, for speeding as he was driving at 76 km/h in an area where the speed limit is 50 km/h. He was fined and tested for alcohol and drugs.
"Since I am not a consumer of substances or alcohol, I accepted any kind of testing with confidence," the young man told Snoop.ro.
However, he had a cold and had taken two paracetamol pills, one just 40 minutes before testing. So, the DrugTest result was positive for amphetamine.
The driver explained the situation to the police: "I immediately told them that I had taken a cold pill and asked if we could repeat the test, but I was refused."
He was taken to the hospital for biological samples to be collected.
"There are structures that have some similarity up to a point, without being identical. Paracetamol is possible that on a certain branch, being a quite complex chemical structure, especially since it also has excipients, to resemble a little, not identically, with amphetamine. And when the drug test finds this receptor for amphetamine, it matches," explained forensic doctor Gabriel Gorun.
The driver persisted and even reached an audience with the director of the National Institute of Legal Medicine, and after the meeting, his analyses were ready in two weeks.
However, the analysis report was not picked up by the police for three months, so the driver could not access the results.
Eventually, after several complaints to the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police, he was informed that his analyses were negative for amphetamine, and he regained his license after four months.
Asked on Monday about cases where drivers lose their license for taking a cold pill, Prime Minister Ciolacu replied: "This has not happened so far. You ask a question as if this were to happen. On Thursday, we will take measures to prevent this from happening."
Ordinance with Drug Scandal
The Road Code was recently amended in Romanian through an emergency ordinance. Among other things, the ordinance changes the rules for testing drivers for alcohol or drugs.
Until now, if the drug test was positive, the driver's license was confiscated, and a criminal case was opened against them.
Meanwhile, the Police announced that certain medications can have psychoactive effects and recommend drivers to check the leaflet before driving. Until the analysis results are received, the driving license can be suspended without a criminal case.
In 2023, only 62% of rapid drug tests with positive results were confirmed by blood tests.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs now proposes a new version of the ordinance aimed at combating drug use while driving.
The new emergency ordinance put up for public debate by the Ministry of Internal Affairs on Wednesday stipulates that drivers who refuse drug testing in traffic or are tested positive by Police devices will have their license suspended but will get it back within three days if the laboratory analyses are not ready within this timeframe.
The withdrawn driving license will be returned within 72 hours of sample collection, either based on a negative analysis report from the National Institute of Legal Medicine or if the results have not been communicated.
Practically, this maximum 72-hour period is set for toxicological analyses to be carried out and communicated by legal medicine institutions to the Romanian Police structures.