Poll of 1,161 Ontario students shows attitudes toward cannabis differ from alcohol, creating potentially risky and dangerous driving behavior.
Ontario students are more likely to get behind the wheel of a vehicle after smoking cannabis than drinking alcohol, a new study from researchers at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine has revealed.
The study, published in Preventive Medicine, found 10 percent of licensed Ontario high school students reported driving within an hour of cannabis use. Driving after drinking alcohol was much less prevalent, with 3.5 percent of students doing so.
The study, led by master’s student Nathan Cantor, found that students who favour cannabis legislation and perceive cannabis to be less risky were more likely to report driving after cannabis use. The study found that graduated licencing programs tended to sway behaviors with students holding a G2 licence four times more likely to report driving after cannabis use compared to those with a G1 licence.
This work reveals that Ontario adolescents perceive cannabis to be less risky than alcohol, and this perception affects other risky behaviors. The reason this is important is that it suggests that educating adolescents about the risks of cannabis use may be effective in reducing the dangerous practice of driving after cannabis use.”
Dr Ian Colman, Principal Investigator and Full Professor, School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa
“We need to…
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Poll of 1,161 Ontario students shows attitudes toward cannabis differ from alcohol, creating potentially risky and dangerous driving behavior.
Ontario students are more likely to get behind the wheel of a vehicle after smoking cannabis than drinking alcohol, a new study from researchers at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine has revealed.
The study, published in Preventive Medicine, found 10 percent of licensed Ontario high school students reported driving within an hour of cannabis use. Driving after drinking alcohol was much less prevalent, with 3.5 percent of students doing so.
The study, led by master’s student Nathan Cantor, found that students who favour cannabis legislation and perceive cannabis to be less risky were more likely to report driving after cannabis use. The study found that graduated licencing programs tended to sway behaviors with students holding a G2 licence four times more likely to report driving after cannabis use compared to those with a G1 licence.
This work reveals that Ontario adolescents perceive cannabis to be less risky than alcohol, and this perception affects other risky behaviors. The reason this is important is that it suggests that educating adolescents about the risks of cannabis use may be effective in reducing the dangerous practice of driving after cannabis use.”
Dr Ian Colman, Principal Investigator and Full Professor, School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa
“We need to…
