British authorities are contemplating a bill that would implement road side drug testing to curtail under the influence drivers on English roadways. The proposed tests will focus on drivers who are using illegal as well as powerful legal drugs such as sleeping pills. A government office is in the phases of studying a device called the "drugalyzer" which is an oral fluid testing device that can detect amphetamines, cocaine, opiates, cannabis and methadone. Currently, British authorities use the same testing method as they would for drunk drivers - The "Walk the Line" test. The UK Telegraph reported that "If enacted in Britain, the bill would likely help the authorities reign in the suspected 23% of drivers and 21% of riders in accidents who have 'impairing' drugs in their systems."
The FDA recently voted in favor of pushing a new formulation of oxycodone hydrochloride for approval. The new OxyContin formula is more difficult to crush or dissolve which will hopefully make it harder to be used as a drug of abuse . The FDA recommended that Purdue Pharma's application for a new, resin-coated formulation should replace the original version, which has been on the market since 1996. Randall Flick, MD, an anesthesiologist at the Mayo Clinic who voted to recommend approval of the drug said, "Clearly the old formulation is worse than the new, although I think the difference is relatively small," Flick concluded, "Hardcore abusers are likely to devise new ways to break down the harder tablet or figure out which solvents will dissolve it fastest, within 'day or weeks' of the product's release on the market."