Getting behind the wheel after getting intoxicated is something no one should do, but a CAA survey reveals many people ignore that fact.
This Saturday is the 20th of April, widely recognized by cannabis enthusiasts as "420", a celebratory day, and CAA ran a survey asking individuals about their habits of consuming cannabis (specifically edibles) and getting behind the wheel.
Ewald Friesen From CAA ran some of the numbers on this, which have changed substantially since legalization.
"This is important because we have a general rise in the amount of new people using cannabis. We also have a 36% increase in people who already do use cannabis using it a little bit more frequently due to its availability. Now, why that's important to road safety is because of these new users, edibles are often the preferred choice... we wanted to know if people are using this safely, and if they're using it behind the wheel"
According to the survey findings, at least 34% of people have tried cannabis for the first time in the wake of legalization.
The survey narrowed it down a bit more to people who identify as "cannabis-impaired drivers" and 27% of them said they consumed edibles before getting behind the wheel.
"The big issue here is that when it comes to edibles there's a lot of unknowns. It depends on your body type, and how you metabolize it, it can depend on how high your tolerance is. So what happens is folks will pop and edible, and they'll wait a couple of hours because they're concerned about safety, and then we'll get behind the wheel and then snap it kicks in."
The paradox of this survey was the statistics around the public perception of this problem.
89% percent of respondents said driving high is a serious issue, but despite this fact, 67% of them also said they do it anyway.
Another thing that many of the survey takers were unaware of was the penalties. Driving high will net the same consequences as driving drunk.
That can range from suspensions, demerits, and in the case of an accident, criminal charges.
We all share the road, and everyone wants a good time. But make sure to make a plan, have a safe ride, and never drive under any influence.
To see more of CAA's findings on these topics, Be sure to visit caa.ca.
