WHY DO MANY DRIVE IMPAIRED?

Why do so many Canadians insist on killing themselves or others and
causing thousands of injuries by driving impaired while under the
influence of alcohol or dangerous drugs?

Drunk drivers have long been a danger on our highways but today we are
faced with another disaster. The number of drivers who admit to being
behind the wheel while having consumed or smoked drugs has doubled
since the late 1980s. Recent research has shown that young men in
particular have driven while high on such drugs just as often, or
more, than those impaired by alcohol. About five per cent of almost
5,000 people questioned in a recent survey said they had driven within
about two hours after getting high on drugs like marijuana or hashish
at least 24 times in the previous 12 months.

The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse said the evidence it has is
this type of behaviour is increasing and is heavily concentrated among
young people, but the truth is these numbers could be much higher
since it is not uncommon for people to be reluctant to admit to
illegal activity. It is also difficult to draw firm conclusions on how
many people are driving impaired and causing injuries and deaths due
to poor or no tests for these drugs except for alcohol.

It is worthy to note that the study was made public one month after a
Bill was tabled in Parliament that would crack down on drivers who
"smoke up" before getting behind the wheel.

Those same statistics show the problem will continue to grow as more
young people pick up a drug habit. They have a false sense of security
that the drugs they smoke will not affect their ability to drive. They
are also convinced they have little chance of being caught or
convicted because, unlike being under the influence of alcohol, there
are no reliable methods of pinpointing a drug-impaired driver. If
true, we need to correct that immediately, and perhaps those impaired
drivers should be forced to explain their illegal behaviour to the
people they have killed or injured on our highways.

We have no room on our roads and highways for impaired drivers, no
matter the reason, and our lawmakers must take whatever action is
necessary to protect us from these idiots. The grief and carnage they
cause cannot be tolerated.