There has been a “significant increase in the prevalence of drug use” by drivers since Parliament legalized marijuana, according to a Department of Public Safety report. The findings were drawn from self-reporting by cannabis users and blood testing of those hospitalized with traffic injuries..“There has been a significant reduction in the prevalence of alcohol use among drivers, but a significant increase in the prevalence of drug use, cannabis in particular,” wrote researchers. “It is no surprise with the legalization of cannabis Canadians expressed concerns over road safety,” they added..“Data from police and border-reported incidents as well as toxicological analyses among injured and fatally injured drivers indicates the number of incidents involving drivers with drugs in their system, including cannabis, has been constantly increasing,” said the Annual National Data Report To Inform Trends And Patterns In Drug Impaired Driving 2022..According to Blacklock's Reporter, 21% of marijuana users surveyed said they drove within two hours of consuming cannabis, a legal threshold for drug impairment. Roadside police checks in British Columbia, Yukon, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories and Ontario found 14% of young drivers under 25 tested positive for marijuana impairment. The rate was 10% for drivers of all ages..Annual National Data also cited first-ever figures on trace levels of marijuana in blood samples from drivers injured in road accidents. Researchers found that rates had “more than doubled.".Parliament in 2018 legalized random roadside testing of drivers under Bill C-45 An Act To Amend The Criminal Code at the same time it legalized recreational cannabis for adults. Federal researchers at the time said they weren't sure of the impact of legalization on road safety..“I cannot predict,” Yvan Clermont, then-director of Statistics Canada’s Centre for Justice Statistics, testified at the Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee..“Do you have any statistics where you’ve asked people whether they will use marijuana or use it more often after it’s legalized?” asked Senator Denise Batters (Sask.)..“We have not asked that,” replied Clermont..“The more I hear about this issue the more I can’t believe the government is going to legalize this,” said Batters. “I’m even more alarmed at how marijuana legalization, and even more impaired driving, will cripple our court system.”.StatsCan data on police-reported drug impaired driving charges counted 7,454 incidents in 2021. It compared to 3,416 in the last year of marijuana criminalization, 2017..“There are some concerning indicators,” wrote the public safety department. “Cannabis users, especially daily or almost daily users, are more likely to think cannabis use does not impair driving.”
