MORE TEENS TOKING AND DRIVING

15% Drove Under Influence Of Marijuana

Education campaigns aimed at drinking and driving may be reaching teens but
are less effective when it comes to drug-impaired driving.

Teens are more likely to drive after smoking marijuana than after drinking,
according to a recent study of 6,000 Atlantic Canadians in Grades 10 and 12.

Fifteen per cent of those surveyed drove under the influence of cannabis
last year, compared with 12 per cent who drove after drinking, says a study
published in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention.

Drivers who had smoked pot were four times more likely to be involved in an
accident than those who hadn't.

The study based its results on teens who toked one hour before driving.

"While we seem to be doing a pretty good job of letting young people know
that alcohol and driving don't mix, they don't seem to be getting the same
message with respect to other drugs," said Mark Asbridge, co-author of the
study and an assistant professor in community health and epidemiology at
Dalhousie University in Halifax.

The study arrives just as health agencies and not-for-profit groups are
starting to put a new emphasis on driving-and-drugs education programs and
as the federal government's Bill C-16 -- aimed at amending the Criminal
Code on drug-impaired driving -- is in second reading.

The survey found that the students more commonly drank (62.6 per cent) than
toked (33.6 per cent).

While it could be inferred the kids are experiencing more car accidents
because of marijuana use, Asbridge said another argument is that teenagers
who drive under the influence of cannabis also engage in other risky
behaviours, such as driving without a licence and using fake ID to buy
liquor, as well as driving after drinking.