POT AND DRIVING A BAD MIX, YOUTH TOLD

The Canadian Public Health Association is raising awareness among
youth about the dangers of mixing marijuana with driving.

On Nov. 21 CPHA launched the Pot and Driving campaign to inform young
Canadian drivers, 14 to 18 years-of-age, and their passengers of the
risks of cannabis-impaired driving. The campaign, funded in part by
Health Canada, was developed through an extensive review of current
evidence and input from both professionals and Canadian youth.

According to CPHA, Canadian youth have one of the highest rates of
cannabis use in the world, and many young Canadians who use pot see it
as a benign, mainstream drug with no significant negative
consequences.

According to Port Alberni RCMP constable Jean Bouchard, marijuana is a
major driving impairment just like alcohol, however it's harder to
trace.

"The big thing with pot is that there's no way for us to test it like
with alcohol, and we're not allowed to arbitrarily ask for blood
unless there's an accident, so the impairment of pot is hard to
judge," he said.

"With alcohol it's easier because we have screening devices and we
have the actual breathalyzer here at the office that gives a reading
of what degree (of impairment) they are."

It is also difficult to determine if a youth has consumed the drug,
because the scent can linger on the clothing of someone who has been
around another person using the substance.

The project developed after CPHA completed an environmental scan on
issues relating to marijuana earlier this year. Some of these include
alcohol, audience, crash risk, designated drivers, gender, harm
reduction, impairment, law enforcement, legal drugs, and video games.

The information was obtained through over 30 interviews with traffic
safety and drug education experts, cannabis opinion leaders, educators
and youth.

Following that, three focus groups were held in April 2005, one with
college students and the other with high school students.

The third focus group was conducted in Ottawa at the ODAWA Native
Friendship Centre with high school and college students.

The studies showed that more often than not, young people do not see
how the substance can dangerously affect their driving.

Community members can get involved in the campaign by simply by
starting a discussion about pot and driving with youths. There is a
campaign website (provided below) where 10 discussion provoking
questions are listed to get people talking.

The site also provides CPHA research on the issue.

For more information, visit http://www.potanddriving.cpha.ca/index.html.