Pubdate: Fri, 28 Oct 2005
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Times Colonist
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/victoria/timescolonist/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Charles Mandel, CanWest News Service
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?224 (Cannabis and Driving)

TEEN'S BEHIND WHEEL DRINKING LESS, TOKING MORE

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

A new study finds 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 the 15- and-18-year-olds surveyed drove under the 
influence of cannabis last year, compared to 12 per cent who drove after 
drinking, says a study published in the journal, Accident Analysis and 
Prevention.

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

"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 
Halifax's Dalhousie University.

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 study, by Asbridge with Christiane Poulin and Andrea Donato, found the 
students surveyed more commonly drank (62.6 per cent) than toked (33.6 per 
cent).
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom