Would you say that the messages against drinking and driving have been effective? It’s true that it still happens. On the other hand, it’s also the case that having even one alcoholic drink and then proposing to drive is regarded, at the very least, with distaste. Getting drunk and driving is socially unacceptable.
With the hopes of turning pot smoking and driving into an equally despicable premise, the Canadian Public Health Association’s (CPHA) “Pot and Driving” campaign is meant to convince teenagers of the negative affects of marijuana consumption on their driving.
The CPHA campaign features images of pilots sharing a joint. It asks, “If you were a passenger in a commercial jet, would you be comfortable if your pilots smoked up so they could really get into flying the plane?”
If the campaign does what it hopes to do, it will point out that if flying high is risky, so is smoking pot and driving.
The CPHA “Pot and Driving” campaign is targeted at teenagers for two good reasons. First, Canadians between the ages of 14 to 25 have one of the highest rates of pot use in the world. Second, research has shown that Canadian teenagers do not believe there are any risks involved with smoking marijuana and then driving.
According to the Canadian Public Health Association, smoking pot has the following effects:
- increases the reaction time needed to respond to an emergency decision-making task, such as adapting to changes in speed of the vehicle ahead or to the vehicle’s brake lights
- affects tracking ability, meaning that drivers who are under the influence of a certain dose of THC have been found to have a harder time following their lane.
- reduces a driver’s ability to perceive changes in the relative speed of other vehicles and to adjust his/her own speed accordingly.
If the associated risks of smoking pot are not convincing, the law is unequivocal. As with alcohol, operating any type of motor vehicle, either on or off road, while impaired by drugs or alcohol contravenes the Canadian Criminal Code.
More information on the Pot and Driving Campaign is available at www.potanddriving.cpha.ca.
This article is presented by the Saint Lazare Medical Response Unit as information only and is not intended as medical advice. For more information visit www.saintlazare911.com.
