Education needed about driving high

EDITORIAL: WHAT OTHERS THINK

If governments and safety organizations across Canada needed a fire lit under their feet to boost public education around the dangers of driving while stoned on cannabis, Statistics Canada delivered it on Thursday.

A survey conducted by the government agency indicates an alarming number of cannabis users with a driver’s licence are toking or ingesting it before getting behind the wheel.

Alarmingly, too many cannabis users think it’s OK to ingest cannabis and drive. Some even think the drug makes them a better driver.

Indeed, one in seven said they had driven at least once in the past three months within two hours of using the drug. By doing so they are endangering not just themselves but their passengers and other road users.

And these findings only add to the concerns raised by a Public Safety Canada study released last fall. It found 28 per cent of respondents had driven high. And, alarmingly, it found one in 10 thought cannabis made them “a better driver.” Research, of course, shows that cannabis negatively affects reaction time, decision making, motor skills, co-ordination, attention and judgment.

In fact, the percentage of Canadian drivers killed in vehicle crashes who test positive for drugs (40 per cent) exceeds the numbers who test positive for alcohol (33 per cent).

If so many people think they can get away with driving stoned now, what will happen when the recreational use of cannabis becomes legal on Oct. 17?

Legalization is the right move, but the results of these surveys are cause for concern on the issue of road safety.

October is a mere blink of an eye away compared to the time it takes for public education campaigns to influence behaviour. It has taken decades to make inroads on the problem of drinking and driving, and get the message to sink in that it’s dangerous and socially unacceptable. And even now it still happens.

That’s why governments and safety organizations urgently need to step up public safety campaigns on the dangers of driving high.

There are a smattering of ads out there. Public Safety Canada has already launched its #Don’tDriveHigh campaign aimed at young drivers.

The British Columbia Automobile Association launched a series of ads — High Driving is Impaired Driving — that smartly turns the tables by having sober young people drive their stoned parents home. And then there is a Nova Scotia campaign that asks: “Drive better on weed?” The accompanying photograph of a totalled car provides the answer.

But others like the CAA South Central Ontario are waiting until the fall to do their “outreach,” and there has been no announcement yet from the Ontario government on when its public education plans will come into effect.

There’s no good reason to wait. It takes time to change behaviour and habits.

The issue is further complicated by the fact that there are no clear guidelines for how much weed is too much. The level of impairment a user experiences — and how long it lasts — can depend on everything from the strength of the cannabis consumed to whether it is smoked, baked in a brownie or mixed in a drink.

The best guideline, then, is Public Safety Canada’s: “If you are using cannabis, do not drive.”

The safety agency found that one in six Canadians felt three hours was long enough to wait. But the saliva-testing machines, that are expected to be approved for use by police forces by the end of this month, can detect cannabis levels for six to eight hours.

So much misinformation about what may constitute drug-impaired driving could prove costly, if not deadly, for drivers. Penalties range from fines of $1,000 to 10 years in prison. And penalties are more serious for drivers found over the limit for both pot and alcohol.

The dangers of driving high are substantial and hard to quantify. Troubling, these recent surveys indicate that comes as surprising news to far too many people.

An editorial from the Toronto Star