Pubdate: Mon, 21 Aug 2017
Source: Hamilton Spectator (CN ON)
Copyright: 2017 The Hamilton Spectator
Contact:  http://www.thespec.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/181
Page: A8

A DRUNK-DRIVING RETHINK JUST MAKE SENSE

The news that the federal government might lower the legal
blood-alcohol limit for drivers might seem to have come out of
nowhere. After all, thanks to concerted efforts by lawmakers and
police, the rate of impaired driving incidents in Canada dropped to a
30-year low in 2015.

Yet despite this progress, there is no better time than now to
consider tougher drunk driving laws in this country. In less than a
year, a new kind of impaired driver could be menacing Canada's roads -
one who just legally smoked marijuana.

It is vital that if the federal Liberals permit the recreational use
of cannabis starting next summer, they get tougher with drivers caught
under the influence of drugs. As they do that, a stricter law on how
much people can drink before driving is also very much in order.

The federal government is justifiably concerned that when recreational
marijuana is legal, more people may drive under the influence of the
drug. And some of those irresponsible people might even drive after
mixing marijuana and alcohol.

That potentially lethal combination is reason enough for Justice
Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to consider lowering the legal blood
limits for drivers from the current 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100
millilitres of blood to 50 milligrams. Rules that helped limit
drinking and driving in the past might be too lax if booze and pot are
mixed.

Yet her proposal has other merits. While decades of anti-drunk-driving
campaigns have produced positive results, we still have a long way to
go. A recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention ranked Canada first out of 19 wealthy countries for the
percentage of traffic deaths linked to alcohol impairment. Canada's
current rules were established in 1969 and were based on research that
concluded the risk of being in a car crash was twice as likely if a
driver has 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood in
his or her system. It turns out that's wrong.

New research shows the risk of being in a collision is almost triple
at the 80-milligrams level and rises exponentially when alcohol levels
are even higher. Many European countries, as well as Australia, have
wisely lowered the limit to 50 milligrams.

If Canada adopted lower limits, it would not prevent a couple from
enjoying a glass or two of wine on a romantic night out. Nor have the
fears of lost business by restaurant and bar owners been borne out by
the European experience. German beer fests and Irish pubs are still
going strong.

But Canadians are headed down a new and unfamiliar highway with
legalized marijuana.

We can make the journey safer with stronger laws prohibiting every
kind of impaired driving.
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MAP posted-by: Matt