Canada: 40% of cannabis users admit to driving under the influence of cannabis in 2018

The Canada legalized cannabis on October 17th.. One of the fears associated with legalization is an increase in risky behaviors, including impaired driving. This is strictly prohibited and considered a crime.

To monitor behaviors associated with cannabis use, Health Canada surveyed thousands of Canadians about their knowledge and attitudes toward cannabis. The results of this survey showed that Canadians are not sufficiently aware of the dangers of driving under the influence, among other things.

A large proportion of Canadians still drive under the influence of cannabis.

The investigation was first conducted in 2017. The 2018 survey took place between May and July 2018, prior to legalization. The results show that Canadians are more aware of the dangers but that risky behaviors persist. Among those surveyed in 2018, 81% acknowledged that cannabis use affected their driving, compared to only 75 % in 2017. Bill Blair, Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction, welcomed the findings: «It is encouraging to see that more Canadians understand that cannabis use has significant health effects, including impairing the ability to drive.».

In reality, however, a large proportion of Canadians continue to drive after using cannabis. Among respondents who admitted to using cannabis in the past 12 months, 39% reported that they had driven a vehicle within two hours of using it. 43% of them had done so within the 30 days prior to the survey, and 25% of them had consumed alcohol in addition to cannabis (that’s 10% more than in 2017). Only 31% of respondents who had used cannabis reported being stopped by law enforcement to check for an offense related to driving under the influence of cannabis.

Legalization did not increase the number of offenses

The Canadian Press surveyed police forces across the country, and the Canadian police stated they had not observed an increase in cannabis-impaired driving. In Manitoba, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) conducted comparative studies before and after legalization, and an average of 50 charges were laid in each period. In France, driving under the influence of cannabis has been a criminal offense punishable by thousands of euros in fines and imprisonment since 2003. According to the OFDT's annual report (French Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction), in 2015, out of 4,000 drug tests conducted following a fatal accident, 13 tested positive for 13 %. Numerous studies Post-legalization in the United States, however, suggests that legalization does not increase the number of road deaths.

In Canada, moreover, the majority of offenses do not concern driving under the influence but relate to new legislation on the transport of cannabis and its consumption by passengers. According to Officer Jason Doucette of the Vancouver Police, out of 18 cannabis tickets issued since October 17, the majority concerned passengers consuming it in the vehicle or the cannabis not being properly stored, meaning sealed and out of the driver's reach. Police recommend better public awareness of the new regulations regarding the transport of cannabis and its consumption by passengers.