The Canadian Public Health Association is launching a pot and driving campaign to raise awareness of the risks linked with cannabis-impaired driving.
The focus will be on youth who are the second most frequent users of cannabis in the world after France.
Executive Director Ian Culbert says it’s important that educators, health providers, parents and guardians are having conversations about pot and driving with youth.
“We know that 20 percent of teenagers and 30 percent of young adults in Canada are consuming cannabis. These are people who are young drivers with less experience,” he notes.
Culbert says it’s important to break the myths such as cannabis making you more focused when driving, or you can’t get caught since police don’t have the tools for testing.
He adds 48 per cent of young people surveyed understood the risks associated with pot and driving, while substantially more, 79 per cent realized the risks of drinking and driving.