Effects of taking illegal drugs on the eyes have been highlighted as part of a new £2.3m public awareness campaign to tackle drug driving launched by the Department for Transport.
The campaign warns that the police can detect that someone is driving under the influence of drugs because of the 'obvious and involuntary effects' drugs have on the eyes. It includes a television advertisement showing a group of drug users with dilated pupils in a car. Three posters of dilated or bloodshot pupils warn what drug users' eyes can look like under the influence of cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy.
A DoT spokesperson told Optician that drug users' eyes were chosen because the effect on the eye is involuntary. However, she said police tests using pupillometers were just part of a range of measures police used to assess whether a driver had taken drugs.