THUNDER BAY – A study shows 41 per cent of students have no issue getting into a vehicle with a driver high on marijuana.
It’s a number that frightens Jeff Upton.
It’s also why several Lakehead Public School teachers spent the day on Thursday being educated about Operation Springboard’s Weed Out the Risk, a program designed to teach students the dangers associated with driving under the influence of cannabis.
While most students know it’s just as illegal to consume marijuana and drive as it is to drink and drive, the consequences aren’t as clear, said Upton, an education officer with the board.
“There’s some mixed messages out there that because cannabis is becoming legalized, therefore it’s OK to do certain things,” Upton said. “They need to understand what the new laws are going to be.”
Weed Out the Risk, created three years ago, is a harm-reduction program designed to teach young people what the risks are of either getting behind the wheel while high, or into a vehicle with a driver on pot.
While high schools have long focused on the risks of drinking and driving, being high behind the wheel has taken a bit of a back seat.
The timing couldn’t be better, said Operation Springboard’s Alexis Vegh.
“We know that some young people are using and getting into vehicles, so we really want to ensure they have good information to make well-informed choices about impairment, especially with marijuana,” Vegh said, adding she can’t speak to why many youngsters think it’s OK to drive while high.
“What we do know is that young people have very different connotations about impairment from alcohol and impairment from marijuana. One of the things that Weed Out the Risks really attempts to clarify is that young people are aware of the impairment issues with marijuana in the same way they often are with alcohol.”
According to a preliminary report issued last fall by the federal government, drivers caught with between two and five nanograms of THC in their bloodstreams could face drugged driving charges, while those caught behind the wheel with more than five nanograms of THS concentrated in their blood would be guilty of impaired driving. Those in the second category would face a mandatory $1,000 for a first offence, 30 days in jail for a second offence and 120 days in jail for a third offence.
In Ontario there will be zero tolerance for anyone 21 and younger, novice and commercial drivers.
Studies have shown driving under the influence of cannabis affects reaction time, concentration, visual function and speed.
Vegh said Weed Out the Risk has been completed by more than 10,000 students to date and the feedback has been excellent from students and teachers, encouraged by the frank discussion of the subject at hand.
“One of the key components is to really try to facilitate a dialogue with young people,” Vegh said. “Being from a harm-reduction perspective, I’m not telling young people they should or should not use. That is a decision they are going to make on their own and we know that, from history.
“My intent going in is to ensure they have some good facts, best practices and good information so they are able to make good decisions on their own and advocate for good decisions in other people.”
Cannabis is scheduled to be legalized by the federal government on July 1.
