The first test showed cocaine use. A second blood test revealed traces of synthetic drugs (n-CMC, alpha-PHP and MMC), derivatives of cathinones (1). These laboratory results concern Pierre Palmade, tried on Wednesday November 20 before the criminal court of Melun (Seine-et-Marne) for “unintentional injuries”.
On February 10, 2023, the comedian was driving after consuming these narcotics when his Peugeot 3008 suddenly veered off course and hit a Renault Mégane which was traveling in the other direction on a road in Seine-et-Marne. The driver of the second vehicle was seriously injured, as were his two passengers, his six-year-old son and his sister-in-law, who was six months pregnant.
In 18% of fatal accidents, the driver had taken drugs
The young woman lost her child in the collision. “This accident has clearly highlighted the dangers of drugged driving.underlines Florence Guillaume, interministerial delegate for road safety. It also highlights the fact that people can be innocent victims of the inconsistency of drivers who take risks, not only for themselves, but (Also) for others. »
According to the National Interministerial Road Safety Observatory (ONISR), the driver tested positive for narcotics in 18% of fatal accidents in 2023. “It could be lethargy or excitement, but these products have effects in all cases, regardless of the substance,” insists the official.
These repercussions can be diverse. “Some products are more sedatives, such as opiates and cannabis, which will reduce alertness and impair reflex abilities, explains Doctor Patrick Daime, vice-president of the Addictions France association. Other substances are, on the contrary, stimulating, such as cocaine, amphetamines, ecstasy or cathinones. The risk is then a certain disinhibition, a feeling of omnipotence, excessive self-confidence, euphoria and aggressiveness. This encourages risk-taking and less perception of danger. The third category of products, the leader of which is LSD, will have a hallucinogenic effect. »
The “particularly toxic” combination of cannabis and alcohol
Cannabis, which remains the most widespread narcotic product in France, is also the one most often involved in accidents. According to ONISR, a “A driver testing positive for cannabis increases his risk of being responsible for a fatal accident by 1.65”. But Doctor Daime recalls that “the most dangerous product remains alcohol”. “It is the cause of 30% of road deaths and this proportion has remained similar for more than thirty years,” he continues.
The association of cannabis and alcohol is “particularly toxic”, adds the doctor. “This is the most dangerous combination, also underlines Florence Guillaume. The increased risk with cannabis is less than with alcohol. But when there are both, this excess risk is greatly amplified. » In 2023, among the 376 drug-positive drivers involved in a fatal accident, 183 also had a blood alcohol level above the legal level, specifies the ONISR.
Nearly a million checks in 2023
While the simple act of driving after using drugs has been an offense in France since 2003, even without an accident, the police are also instructed to carry out a double check for alcohol and drugs during the preventive tests carried out. at the side of the roads. A positive result for alcohol implies a drug test, and vice versa.
Thanks to the development of saliva kits to detect drugs in the body, these tests are becoming more and more numerous. In 2023, nearly a million of these checks will have been carried out in France, compared to 770,000 in 2022 and 650,000 in 2021. But the cathinones consumed by Pierre Palmade remain undetectable in saliva for the moment. While in police custody, the comedian admitted to having consumed it three days before the accident.
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On the road in 2023, nearly 600 drug-related deaths
402 people were killed in 2023 in a drug accident, according to statistics from the National Interministerial Road Safety Observatory (ONISR). Since data on screening does not always appear in the reports prepared by the police, ONISR estimates, by extrapolation, that this total actually amounted to 586 victims.
11% of drivers tested positive for drugs in fatal accidents in 2023: 15% for mopeds, 13% for motorcycles, 12% for cars and bicycles. In addition, 33 pedestrians killed tested positive for narcotics.
(1) Cathinones derive from natural cathinone, the active ingredient in the leaves of khat, an African shrub.
