EFFECTS OF HEROIN ON PSYCHOMOTOR AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS RELATED TO DRIVING

This paper reports a study to investigate the short-term effects of intravenous heroin on psychomotor and cognitive performance in heroin-maintained dependent patients. Performance was compared to that of patients maintained on methadone and a control group of healthy subjects. The subjects were given a series of test pre- and post-drug administration and group comparisons were carried out by analysis of variance. A marked decrease in performance levels was observed in the heroin group immediately after injection, these effects lasting for up to an hour. Caution is recommended for drivers, so that they do not drive for at least an hour after application of heroin. For the covering abstract see IRRD E113725.