site.btaDrug Test Results Will Be Available Within Days Once Backlog Is Cleared, Interior Minister Says

The Interior Ministry plans to eliminate the backlog by the end of the year so that blood samples for drug testing are analyzed on a regular basis within days, just as alcohol test results are currently processed, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said at the opening of a laboratory in Plovdiv for the analysis of drivers' blood samples for alcohol and drugs.

He called on the prosecution service to establish the necessary organization for handling such cases so that the rapid availability of test results can also lead to the swift conclusion of legal proceedings. According to him, this will ensure that when no evidence of narcotic substances is found, people will not remain subject to sanctions in advance for long periods of time.

The laboratories operate under the supervision of the Institute of Criminalistics. “Our ambition is for all laboratories to work in the same way and to produce results that are as reliable as possible,” Demerdzhiev added. He stressed that the laboratories in Plovdiv and Burgas were established without public procurement procedures.

According to laboratory specialists Maria Chakarova and Svetlana Mitkova, if a single narcotic substance is detected, the test result will be available within three to seven days. If several different drugs are identified, the analysis may take up to 14 working days. They also explained that the laboratory will be able to process up to five samples simultaneously each week.

Two new laboratories for processing drivers’ blood samples for alcohol and drug use opened in Plovdiv and Burgas on Monday, while construction of another laboratory in Varna is also at an advanced stage.