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Teens behind wheel drinking less, toking more

By Hempology | October 28, 2005

Education campaigns aimed at drinking and driving may be reaching teens, but are less effective when it comes to drug-impaired driving.

BY CHARLES MANDEL For CanWest News Service

A new study finds teens are more likely to drive after smoking marijuana than after drinking, according to a recent study of 6,000 Atlantic Canadians in Grades 10 and 12.
Fifteen per cent of the 15-and-18-yearolds surveyed drove under the influence of cannabis last year, compared to 12 per cent who drove after drinking, says a study published in the journal, Accident Analysis and Prevention.
Drivers who had smoked marijuana were four times more likely to be involved in an accident than those who hadnt.
While we seem to be doing a pretty good job of letting young people know that alcohol and driving dont mix, they dont seem to be getting the same message with respect to other drugs, said Mark Asbridge, co-author of the study and an assistant professor in community health and epidemiology at Halifaxs Dalhousie University.
The study arrives just as health agencies and not-for-profit groups are starting to put a new emphasis on driving-anddrugs education programs and as the federal governments Bill C-16 aimed at amending the Criminal Code on drugimpaired driving is in second reading.
The study, by Asbridge with Christiane Poulin and Andrea Donato, found the students surveyed more commonly drank (62.6 per cent) than toked (33.6 per cent).

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