DANGERS OF TOKING UP, DRIVING BROUGHT HOME TO TEENS

Ramin Shaji stopped driving with a longtime friend who was putting
their lives in danger by toking up behind the wheel.

His friend was a heavy marijuana user whose driving habits had became
more erratic and dangerous.

"I noticed that he would have a slow reaction to the traffic around
him. When he had to turn, he would go into the other lane," said Mr.
Shaji, 19, a student at the Adult High School, who used to ride to
school with his 18-year-old friend. Yesterday, Mr. Shaji was one of 10
teens at Earl of March High School to launch Why Drive High?, a
citywide campaign to dispel myths about marijuana use and driving.

The teenagers will hit schools to reinforce the message that heavy
marijuana use, especially among drivers aged 13 to 25, is harmful.

Mr. Shaji said that at first, he thought his friend was drinking or
taking other drugs, but then he saw how the steady use of marijuana
affected his judgment on the road.

Mr. Shaji drifted apart from his friend, but not before he warned him
about the dangers of smoking and driving.

"I realized all those times I could have been in a serious accident or
could have probably died," he said, remembering the incidents from
more than a year ago.

The Why Drive High? program, a collaboration with Ottawa Public Health
and Carlington Community and Health Services, is funded by Health
Canada. Its message will be told in five languages: English, French,
Chinese, Arabic and Somali.

According to the 2005 Ontario Drug Use Survey, 20 per cent of drivers
in Grades 10 to 12 drove a vehicle at least once in the past year
within an hour of using marijuana.

And 22 per cent of students in Grades 7 to 12 said they had been a
passenger in a car driven by someone who had been using drugs prior to
driving.

Sobering statistics, but unfortunately the number of people being
stopped for marijuana use has increased in recent years, OPP Const.
Eric Booth said yesterday.

"On the R.I.D.E. program, it's pretty much guaranteed that someone
driving up to the program has used drugs in the vehicles, mostly
marijuana or hashish. They've been smoking in the vehicle prior to
driving, or while they're driving," said Const. Booth.

He said there could be confusion among teenagers who believe that
driving and smoking marijuana is not as serious as drinking and
driving. He said he hopes this new awareness program will eliminate
those myths.

He said "mixed messages" are going out to teenagers, especially with
talk about decriminalizing marijuana, and with revelations that some
politicians have tried marijuana.

In a short video made for yesterday's launch, Gregg Thomson, whose
18-year-old son, Stan, and four of his friends died in a drug-related
crash on June 27, 1999, on Highway 7 near Perth, talked about the
devastating effect the accident had on his family.

"As much as I wish, as much as I dream, I know I can't have him back,"
said Mr. Thomson, a former Ottawa resident who moved to Dallas last
fall.

"One dream I do know will come true is that no other family will have
to face the death of their child to drugs and driving. Initiatives
like Why Drive High? give us this hope, puts us so much closer to
realizing our dream," he said in the video.

In an interview, Mr. Thomson said the passage of time has not eased
the pain of losing his son. He said the years since his son's death
have been all about survival.

"You never get over it and I'm almost seven years into this now," said
Mr. Thomson, 50, a former president of the Ottawa chapter of MADD.

"There are days like even this past weekend where you have moments and
I feel like I'm right back into June of 1999."

Mr. Shaji said his relationship with his friend has improved, although
they are not as close as they once were. He hopes the awareness
program will speak to teenagers about abstaining from smoking
marijuana before driving.

"I just want to reach out to one person, whether it's someone who is
doing it, or a friend that knows someone who's doing it. If I can
reach one person, it will help to have a ripple effect."