Press Release
Cozart® DDS responds to the needs of drug testing at the roadside
Testing technology chosen for drug driving campaign in Italy
Cozart Bioscience, a member of the Concateno Group, the leading European drug and alcohol testing business listed on AIM is pleased to announce that through its subsidiary in Italy, the Cozart® Drug Detection System (DDS) is to be used by municipal and road police through out the Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta region.
The Cozart® DDS will be used over the next few months by a total of 28 municipal police forces and 5 departments of the national road police as part of a campaign to prevent the use and abuse of narcotics and psychoactive substances while driving.
The campaign is designed to target at least 2,000,000 habitants of this region, running through until the end of December ‘07. The first part of the campaign will involve the distribution of information leaflets that are designed to inform and educate drivers in this region about the risks of driving while under the influence of drugs. The second stage will be a co-ordinated field enforcement action, where the police officers will use the Cozart® DDS to test drivers at the roadside for the presence of a total of 6 drugs including; Heroin, Cocaine including Crack Cocaine, Cannabis, Amphetamine, Methamphetamine and Benzodiazepines. The test which is designed to be simple and easy to use; involves the collection of a non invasive saliva (oral fluid) sample, which is then analysed on the DDS, the result being provided to the officer in less than 5 minutes.
Any drivers that have a positive result will be taken by the police for a further examination, if tests confirm the positive result then the drivers will be liable for a fine up to €4,000 (£2,440) or up to 3 months in custody, the driving license will be suspended from 6 to 12 months.
Dr. Stefano Bellezza (Piedmont Reg. Responsible Director) said ‘Whilst the incidences of drink driving are well documented due to roadside breath alcohol tests, the same is not true for driving under the influence of drugs. In order to investigate the extent of the problem in Piedmont region we are starting a three month campaign. The operation will focus on the preventative education and a programme of testing of drugs at the roadside. For the testing and monitoring, the Cozart® DDS seems to respond to the need for speed and accuracy required for roadside inspections.’
Commenting on the campaign, Fiona Begley Chief Executive of the Concateno Group, ”We are delighted to hear that the DDS will be used as an integral part of this anti-drug driving campaign. It clearly demonstrates our good relationships with the European enforcement agencies, the suitability of this product in the demanding roadside market and builds on the experience that we have gained in other countries.”
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For further information, call:
Dene Baldwin/Karon Hawthorne – Cozart - + 44 (0) 1235 861 483
Fiona Begley, Chief Executive Officer - Concateno - +44 (0) 20 7004 2800
Billy Clegg/Edward Westropp, Financial Dynamics - +44 ( 0) 20 7831 3113Cozart:
Concateno:
Tel: +44 (0)20 7004 2800
Information on Roadside drug testing
Testing for drivers at the roadside for alcohol and/or drugs is a vital part in any road safety initiative and Cozart with its point of contact products have been at the forefront of developing suitable technology to assist with this issue. Italy first evaluated and started to use the Cozart® RapiScan (predecessor to the DDS) back in 2003, for roadside drug testing after the Highway Code was updated to allow a saliva sample to be taken from a driver.
Australia was the first country to introduce specific roadside saliva drug testing in the State of Victoria back in December 2004. The Cozart® RapiScan was selected for use on the Victorian Drug Bus following extensive evaluations. After a successful 12 month pilot, Victoria have since expanded the program and placed Cozart® RapiScans on all the Police Booze Buses. A further two states have commenced state-wide random roadside drug testing programs in the last year, selecting Cozart® RapiScan as their preferred technology and the Cozart® DDS system has been recently chosen by Western Australia Police, with testing to commence before the end of 2007. Queensland was the final state to pass legislation and is working towards starting testing in 2008.
The saliva drug testing of drivers in Australia has attracted considerable media interest since it began with tens of thousands of drivers having been tested so far. Currently, approximately 1 in every 50 drivers are testing positive for Methamphetamine, Ecstasy and/or Cannabis. This is significantly higher than the average alcohol detection rates.
Other European countries including Spain and Croatia are also actively using either the Cozart® RapiScan or DDS technology to help with tackling the issue of driving under the influence of drugs.
Notes to Editors –
Cozart
Cozart Bioscience is a medical diagnostics company which develops, manufactures and sells immunodiagnostic tests, predominantly those used for the detection of drugs of abuse. Cozart's products include laboratory based testing kits for the detection of drugs in a variety of biological samples and the Cozart® RapiScan and Cozart® DDS systems, portable devices used for the on-site testing of drugs of abuse in saliva (oral fluid) samples. Cozart has wholly owned subsidiaries in Spain (Spinreact SA based near Barcelona ); Sweden (HL Scandinavia and Medib Scandinavian), Italy (Cozart Italia) and the UK (Nemesis Scientific Limited).
Cozart supplies point of contact testing products, laboratory services and forensic testing kits to the criminal justice (e.g. police forces, probation services and prisons), medical (e.g. hospitals and drug dependency clinics) and workplace markets (e.g. pre-employment, random and 'for cause' testing) both in the UK and internationally.
Concateno
Concateno Plc is a listed company that is focused on acquiring and consolidating companies within the Drug and Alcohol Testing sector. The strategy is to create a single organisation capable of providing the complete range of drug & alcohol testing solutions to meet all and every customer requirement. Since November 2006 the company has made seven acquisitions and today Concateno Plc comprises the following wholly owned subsidiary companies: Medscreen Ltd, Altrix HealthCare, Euromed, TrichoTech, Marconova, CPL, and Cozart Bioscience.