Article source: First Life in Canada
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A six-year analysis of more than 10,000 Canadian drivers who were involved in traffic accidents showed that marijuana had surpassed alcohol as the most commonly detected substance affecting driving through post-event blood tests.
The 2024 National Drug Driving Study, produced by the University of UBC, noted that researchers analyzed blood samples from drivers in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador between 2018 and 2023.
They found that 54 percent of these drivers injured in the accident tested for at least one substance that affected driving, while 16.6 percent of drivers in this segment of the population had marijuana in their blood and 16 percent contained alcohol.
Driving a car after using marijuana appears to be a new problem in Canada and may now be more common than driving after drinking, the study reads.
Still, given the extremely high risk of alcohol-related car accidents and the low THC levels of most marijuana-positive drivers, it can be concluded that driving after drinking alcohol remains a bigger problem in Canada.
The study also found that Atlantic Canada has the highest rate of marijuana use among injured drivers in the country.
Of the 624 injured drivers from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador tested during the study, 26 percent tested positive for marijuana, while 22 percent tested positive for alcohol. Overall, 70% of drivers test positive for drugs or alcohol, which is also higher than the national average.
Dr. Jeff Brubacher, lead author of the report from UBC's Department of Emergency Medicine, said he was impressed by the overall situation of driving impairment in Atlantic Canada.
It's a national problem, he said, but it seems to be more serious in Atlantic Canada.
Researchers in B.C., who have been studying marijuana and alcohol in the blood since 2012, said the number of drivers with marijuana in the system has apparently increased since marijuana was legalized in 2018.
I still think that traditional alcohol is probably the biggest problem in a single substance, says Brubacher. But a new problem is the combination of alcohol and marijuana, which is a terrible combination.
Studies have shown that marijuana intoxication can cause attention deficits, slower reaction times, and affect tasks such as keeping lanes or monitoring speedometers. However, habitual cannabis users may develop a tolerance to some of its effects.
The effects of alcohol on driving and road safety are well-studied and proven, and unlike alcohol, it is often impossible to predict how driving will be affected at different drug-blood alcohol concentrations, the study wrote.
The study's target audience includes emergency room doctors, public health officials, police and organizations that help spread awareness of safe driving, Brubacher said.
He said this was to warn people about the risks of being affected when driving, as well as the risks of combining alcohol and marijuana. I really hope that we can continue to collect this kind of data and that the police will use it to guide law enforcement, and that injury prevention personnel can use it for public education.
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Wendy Yuan, the candidate for the Richmond Centre B.C. Provincial Assembly, said the provincial government under Feng Yigan will immediately take the following steps:
1. End NDP's failed and reckless policy of decriminalizing illegal drugs: Immediately end NDP's decriminalization of illegal drugs and a total ban on the public use of drugs in parks, playgrounds, beaches, and public places.
Source: Internet
2. Alternative Sentences and Rehabilitation: Individuals facing sentencing will be able to choose between traditional incarceration or treatment. The initiative includes the construction of new facilities and the repurposing of existing prison space to enable drug rehabilitation and mental health services to be provided within the province's correctional facilities. The main purpose is to ensure that people released from the correctional system do not re-enter society with unresolved drug addiction problems.
3. Pursue civil consequences for the sale of drugs that cause the death of others: Initiate civil lawsuits against drug traffickers who sell deadly drugs resulting in death from overdose. If restaurant servers are legally responsible for customers who drink and drive, drug dealers who sell deadly drugs like fentanyl, carfentanil, and W-18 should also be held liable.