Spain's drug tests yield false positives, blood results delayed a month

Drug testing in Spain: False positives cost €1,000 and a month of waiting

Jenifer was leaving work when she was stopped at an alcohol and drug checkpoint in Andés, Navia (Asturias). Her breathalyzer read 0.0. The surprise came from the saliva test: positive for cocaine and methamphetamine. "It's impossible," she told the officers. She was 29 years old, had two children, and no intention of pretending to be something she wasn't. She requested a confirmatory test, was taken to Jarrio Hospital, paid €31 for the blood analysis, and waited. A month later, the result was negative. The fine had already been issued: €1,000 and six points off her license.

Cocaine in saliva, zero in alcohol: A recurring scenario in Navia

This case is not isolated. On Saturday, June 26, her brother-in-law Daniel R. went through the same ordeal at a checkpoint in La Colorada, also in Navia. He tested positive for cocaine. "I have never taken that in my life, nor have I ever smoked a joint," he stated. He himself asked to go to the hospital: they drew his blood and urine, although they warned him that the latter was unnecessary. The urine test was negative. The blood result would take, they told him, "a month or two." In between, he lost an hour and a half of rest and left his car abandoned on the shoulder for six hours.

When he informed the agents that these tests were failing, the response was that the device was certified and working. It is the same pattern described in another case: an officer who tested positive after a pursuit, requested a confirmatory test, and saw it come back negative. Certified is not synonymous with infallible.

Which medications can trigger a positive result in a traffic drug test?

The European Automobile Association (AEA) prepared a report arguing that the intake of certain drugs causes the test to flag. The list includes common names: ibuprofen, dextromethorphan found in Romilar, diphenhydramine in Bisolvon cough syrup, doxylamine in Dormidina, or promethazine in Actithiol antihistamines. Nothing exotic, all standard first-aid kit items.

The association's recommendation is to carry a medical certificate proving that this medication does not affect driving ability. The warning is significant: someone taking an over-the-counter cough syrup could end up explaining on the roadside why their saliva tested positive. And at those hours, no one listens.

Saliva drug tests: Detect use within 24 hours, not current impairment

The effects of cocaine last between twenty minutes and one hour. The saliva test, however, detects it if consumed in the last 24 hours. Opioids—morphine, codeine, or heroin—have effects lasting four to six hours but are detected up to three days later. Hierba produces effects for up to three hours and leaves traces in saliva for an entire day. The same occurs with tranquilizers, amphetamines, and methamphetamine.

The practical consequence is uncomfortable: the device does not measure whether you are driving under the influence; it measures whether something passed through your body in the last day. A joint on Saturday and driving on Monday end up in the same administrative record.

The cutoff line that Traffic authorities can raise or lower

With alcohol, there is a set rate and an objective figure from which the abusa is fruta. With drugs, there is no such legal threshold. AEA argues that these tests "do not guarantee legal certainty" and that the cutoff line can be raised or lowered at the discretion of the Traffic Division. In fact, according to the association, the Civil Guard had to raise it because the vast majority of tests were coming back positive.

A court in Vitoria once requested that a clear limit be established by law. The Constitutional Court upheld the legality of the tests. The divergence does not help either: some saliva samples test positive for THC or cocaine while blood confirms methamphetamine, or vice versa. With these elements, the presumption of innocence becomes a bureaucratic process.

Asturias: Alcohol positives fall, drug positives rise

The data handled by AEA draws two converging curves. In 2019, 2,876 drivers were detected with an alcohol level above the permitted limit. With lockdown, the figure fell to 1,081 in 2020 and partially recovered in 2021, reaching 1,855: 35% less than before the pandemic.

With drugs, the opposite occurs. From 808 positives in 2019, it dropped to 369 in 2020, and between 2019 and 2021, growth reached 27%. Two opposing trends on the same asphalt: fewer drunk drivers, more drugged drivers—or at least more detected. The difference between the two is precisely the subject of the dispute.

Who pays the €31 and the hours spent proving innocence?

The driver fronts the cost of the confirmatory test. In the Asturian case, €31 for the hospital analysis, with an agent as witness and two tubes of blood sent to the lab. Added to this is time: from 11:30 PM to 3:00 AM at a checkpoint, not counting the month-long wait for the result. Some argue that these expenses should be borne by the Traffic Division.

Another recurring criticism points to incentives. If reports count toward monthly statistics, there is no reason to waste any, and the fined person must find a way to appeal. On the other side, the obvious is recalled: driving under the influence of any substance is a abusa, whether the substance is legal or not, and the problem of drugs behind the wheel is growing.

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The knot remains just as tight. There is a right to a confirmatory test, but it arrives late. There is a documented complaint about legal insecurity, but no legal rate to deactivate it. There is a Constitutional Court that approves and a court that demanded limits. What is missing are precisely the two things no affected person recovers: a timely result and the hours taken away on the roadside.