High time motorists stop driving impaired
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Far too many young people still think driving while under the influence of drugs is somehow less risky than drinking and driving.
So R.I.D.E. Checks — an organization that works with cops to promote road safety — has teamed up with the licensed marijuana producer Beleave Inc. to launch a campaign called, Consequence Strains, to spell out the dangers of driving high.
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“There still seems to be a common misconception where it’s not as bad as having a few drinks and getting behind the wheel. People say, ‘Oh, I can focus more,’” Dr. Roger Ferreira, Beleave’s chief science officer, said Wednesday at Humber College’s Lakeshore campus where police from services across the province gathered to kick off this year’s RIDE program.
“But if you have to consciously make the effort to focus more, what does that tell you about your baseline cognitive function?” Ferreira asked.
A video unveiled with the campaign shows a focus group of young people examining what look to be containers of pot with labels that include Kourtroom Kush, White Whiplash and Slammer Time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdsWVQlhDmE&feature=youtu.be
“Slammer Time packs a potent punch, often inducing feelings of remorse, paranoia and isolation from the outside world,” reads the description on one container. “The same feelings as someone who’s been sentenced to life in prison for killing another driver or pedestrian.”
In the video, young people share their thoughts on driving high.
“I’m strongly against drinking and driving,” one man says. “It’s inappropriate. It’s selfish. But I have a completely different perspective of driving high.”
The video also points out 500,000 Canadians admit to driving high within the last year and states with marijuana legalization coming in 2018 “this problem will only get worse.”
The OPP also released a video highlighting the fact nearly half the 1,000 deaths from impaired driving crashes on provincially-policed roads since 2002 have been innocent victims.
The video details the tragic death of Karina Tsaneva, 22, who made the fatal mistake of getting into a car with someone who was drinking and lost control at 130 km/h on a country road on Dec. 12, 2015.
Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said the OPP conducted about 23,000 RIDE spot checks so far this year and will stop 7,000 or so more vehicles during the next six-weeks.
“Last year during the festive RIDE campaign we took over 1,000 drivers off the road because of alcohol or drug-related offences,” he said. “This should not be happening in this day and age.”
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