We’re driving high

StatsCan figures called ‘alarming’

OTTAWA — A new Statistics Canada survey reveals an “alarming” number of Canadians have driven while high on cannabis or have been passengers in such vehicles.

According to the second quarterly national cannabis survey, 14 per cent of cannabis users who have a driver’s licence admitted they got behind the wheel within two hours of consuming cannabis at least once in the past three months.

And five per cent of Canadians over the age of 14 said they’ve been a passenger in a vehicle driven by someone who’d consumed cannabis in the preceding two hours.

The survey results were released Thursday, just two months before cannabis is to become a legal, regulated product in Canada.

Statistics Canada is conducting quarterly surveys throughout this year as part of an effort to measure the social and economic impacts of legalization.

Andrew Murie, chief executive officer of MADD Canada, called the latest numbers “alarming” — more than triple the rate of Canadians who drive after consuming alcohol in the preceding two hours.

“I think if you compare it to alcohol, they’re shocking,” he said in an interview.

However, Murie noted that the federal government has recently authorized more tools to test drivers for cannabis impairment and he predicted the rate of drug-impaired driving will drop once police get those tools operational.

“I think once people get the idea that police do have the tools, that they can detect drug-impaired drivers, especially cannabis, then I think like alcohol with the breathalyzer it’ll start to lower those rates.”

According to the survey, men were nearly two times more likely than women to drive high.