A new community safety campaign is underway to raise awareness about the dangers of cannabis-impaired driving.
The Regional Road Safety Committee and the Grey Bruce Community Safety and Well-Being Planning Crime Prevention Action Table want to prevent injuries and fatalities by promoting safe driving habits.
Grey Bruce Community Safety and Well-Being Planning Coordinator Alexis Cook said the campaign launched over the long weekend, with education efforts at R.I.D.E. programs and cannabis dispensaries.
She said the campaign will focus on young drivers and will include social media and digital advertising.
"At various high schools around the region, officers were educating those within the high schools who were driving, on the dangers of cannabis impaired driving," Cook said.
According to a 2023 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey, six per cent of licensed students admitted to driving after using cannabis, and nine per cent reported being passengers with drug-impaired drivers.
"There is a challenge with motor control and impairment, with cognitive ability," Cook continued. "Your cognitive and motor abilities needed to operate a vehicle can become impaired from cannabis consumption."
Cook pointed out that information from the Canadian Substance Use Cost and Harms Report showed that driving under the influence of cannabis can pose a serious risk on the roads.
"The report said that cannabis is actually the second leading substance linked to fatal motor vehicle collisions," Cook explained. "So approximately 24 per cent of those fatal motor vehicle collisions were linked to cannabis."
Cook said a public survey showed that 30 per cent of respondents said they had travelled in a vehicle when they knew the driver was high.
Funding from the Community Foundation Grey Bruce Fall 2024 Grant and United Way of Bruce Grey’s Safe Communities Fund made the program possible.