TEEN POT USERS TARGET OF DRIVING CAMPAIGN

"Steer Clear of Pot" is the new campaign started by the Office of National
Drug Control Policy. It aims to get teens to stop drugging and driving.
Perhaps because of so much emphasis on drinking and driving, teens
underestimate the effect of marijuana on driving. They also are getting in
vehicles with other teens who are driving under the influence of pot.

The agency states:

In 2002, between 13 percent and 18 percent of young drivers age 17 to 21
reported driving under the influence of an illicit drug during the past year.

An estimated 38,400 high school seniors in the U.S. reported in 2001 that
they crashed while driving under the influence of marijuana and 46,400
reported that they crashed while impaired by alcohol.

Forty-one percent of teens surveyed were not concerned about driving after
using drugs, and 45 percent were not concerned with riding with someone
under the influence of drugs.

Among teens who reported driving after using marijuana, more than half (56
percent) claimed that the marijuana use did not affect their ability to
drive safely, and 54 percent perceived that they were no more likely to be
stopped by police when driving after marijuana use than on other occasions.

Sixteen percent of 12th-graders reported smoking marijuana in a car and 10
percent reported drinking beer in a car. Cars were second to a friend's
house as the most common place for high school seniors to smoke marijuana.

Marijuana use impairs driving by affecting concentration, perception,
coordination and reaction time, the agency said. The effects can last 24 hours.

The good news is that it's parents who are most likely to make a difference
in teens' driving behavior. Talk to your teen and present the facts. For
information, go to mediacampaign.org.