Waiting more than 2 hours before driving, drinking water, drinking coffee, eating lemons, drinking energy drinks… are some of the most recommended tricks on the Internet to avoid drug control on the road, which do not work, according to the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT). «Drug controls through saliva samples are a very reliable instrument. As an evidential test is always carried out with a second saliva sample that is sent to a laboratory, the reliability is irrefutable“, explains Juan Carlos Gonzalez Luquedeputy director of Investigation and Intervention of this organization.
In fact, he adds that “there is only one ‘trick’ that works: don’t consume. But, if they have, you have to wait for hours before driving; the more hours the better, but generally no less than 5 or 6 hours.” A time that can vary, since it depends on the substance consumed, its quantity and purity, and even on individual variations of the consumer. What’s more, drug use and driving are just as incompatible as drinking and driving.
–wait 1-2 hours: It is only effective if the wait is very long and is around 5-6 hours, as a standard mean time, which would be the time in which the body eliminates the drugs at the levels measured by the test.
–drink coffee beans: The intake of coffee ‘fooled’ the first ethylometers several decades ago, but it does not produce any effect on the concentration of the drug in saliva.
–Drinking water: There is no scientific evidence to support it. Drinking water does not dilute the presence of drug in saliva.
–exercise/sweat: Saliva tests -used in road checkpoints- are not affected by sweating or playing sports. Therefore, it doesn’t work.
–eat lemons: It does not produce any alteration in the drug concentration in the saliva, although it does stimulate its production.
–drink energy drinks: The high concentrations of stimulants in these drinks can cause additive effects. It does not dilute the drug concentration and there are cases of sudden death described.
–Sleep for a while: Sleep, by itself, does not eliminate the amount of drug present in the body. Only if it is a sleep of more than five hours would it produce an effect, worse not because of the fact of sleeping, but because of the time elapsed.