Wellness 8th May 2017 by Grace McGettigan

WTF? Women Who Take Medicine For Period Pain Could Be Done For Drug-Driving

New legislation means that over-the-counter medicine could set you over the limit for the drug-driving test.

If you take Solpadeine or Feminax for period pain, you’ll need think twice before getting behind the wheel.

New legislation around drug-driving means that women who have taken the pain relief, which contains the opiate Codeine, will fail the test and could face a €5,000 fine or up to 6 months in prison.

Doctor Mark Murphy, chair of communications for the Irish College of General Practitioners told the independent.ie that he’s concerned about this new legislation, and said that just because someone has taken pain relief doesn’t mean they’re unfit to drive.

“It’s not a crime to test positive for opiates or benzodiazepines but it is a crime to be impaired while driving,” he said.

“As a doctor it can sometimes be very hard to assess if somebody is impaired and there is no hard and fast objected criteria in this. The anxiety for GPs is how can a Garda correctly assess if somebody is impaired?”

The test is being carried out at Garda checkpoints around the country, and involves taking a swab of the driver’s saliva. It also detects the presence of cannabis, cocaine, and heroin.

Would you be nervous to drive after taking Solpadeine or Feminax?