
A new survey, conducted in January 2022 by EKOS for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada and more recently published online, says 33% of Canadian cannabis users within the previous year have driven while high.
The poll also says of those Canadians who have used cannabis at some point in their lives, about 26% say they’ve gotten behind the wheel after consuming.
When asked about that risk-taking behaviour, 10% said they didn’t know any better or didn’t feel educated enough about the risks.
Another 39% said they didn’t feel any impairment and another 23% said they thought they could drive safely.
As for passengers, just under 30% said they travelled in a vehicle when they knew the driver was under the influence of weed.
Another 86% of respondents, including non-cannabis users, agreed pot impairs those who are driving.
The EKOS survey looked at 2,193 responses, including 447 youth aged 16 to 24, and 404 parents of youth (aged 16 to 24) with a margin of error of +/-2.09%. Ten per cent of the responses were collected by cell phone, 15% by interviews, and the rest through online self-administration.