By Dan Marshall

Marijuana use and driving – how will drivers be affected once pot is legalized?

Nov 15, 2016 | 10:25 AM

NANAIMO — Our attitudes towards drinking and driving have changed quite a bit over the last 30 years, but it’s still unclear what stigma will surround smoking and driving.

With new marijuana laws coming, probably in 2017, drivers will need to be aware of the impact pot use can have when getting behind the wheel.

Canadian Automobile Association spokesman Ian Jack wants to see the same perception we have towards drinking and driving applied to using marijuana and driving.

“It took us a generation to get from people thinking it was OK to have ‘one for the road’ in alcohol, to the point where now you always have a designated driver and you probably ostracize from your community of friends somebody who drinks and drives,” said Jack. “We just want to get there with marijuana as well and we just want to make sure it doesn’t take us a generation to do it.”

According to Jack more than one quarter of younger drivers surveyed by the CAA didn’t think that marijuana use had a negative impact on their driving.

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“In B.C., 27 per cent of people between the ages of 18 and 24 say marijuana doesn’t impair their driving. That’s one of the reasons why we’re saying we need to get on this now. It’s a bit of a myth that you’re so mellow that you’re just a calmer, slower driver. You may be slower but that’s not necessarily safer,” said Jack.

A study done by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse claims marijuana use can actually double the risk of getting into an accident.

It seems drivers in this province are concerned about the implications that legalizing marijuana will have on road safety.

When the the CAA asked if drivers felt B.C. roads would be less safe after new pot laws are introduced, 67 per cent of respondents said yes.