CAMPAIGN DISCOURAGES DRIVING AFTER SMOKING POT

Imagine how you'd react if you were told the pilot in charge of your flight
had just smoked a joint. Feeling a little uneasy, right?

So why do some people think it's OK to drive a vehicle while under the
influence of marijuana?

That's the idea a new national campaign, Pot and Driving, is trying to
plant in the minds of young Canadians so they don't get behind the wheel
while impaired.

"This is not a Just Say No campaign," Dr. Elinor Wilson, chief executive
officer for the Canadian Public Health Association, said Monday.

"This is a campaign to have young people at the end of it go: 'Huh. Maybe
these people have a point here. I'd never thought about that before.' "

Launched in Ottawa on Monday, the campaign includes a website geared toward
young people, specifically 14- to 18-year-olds, and their parents. The site
features information on the campaign, as well as questions and answers to
help parents start discussions with their kids about how dangerous it is to
drive while high.

"We know from focus groups and stats that young people still have a high
level of non-understanding and confusion about the effects of pot and
driving," Dr. Wilson said.

"We're with pot and driving where we were with alcohol and driving about 15
years ago."

According to the website ( www.potanddriving.cpha.ca), young Canadians have
the highest rates of cannabis use in the world, viewing marijuana "as a
benign, mainstream drug with no significant negative consequences."

That point is reiterated by an October 2005 study by the Canadian Institute
for Health Information that shows 15 per cent of 16- to 18-year-olds
surveyed in Atlantic Canada have driven under the influence of cannabis in
the past year. The same study shows 12 per cent of the same group drove
while drunk.

Although the difference seems small, the figures have a greater impact in
the context of the percentage of young people (62.6) who drank alcohol in
the past year, compared with the 33.6 per cent who used marijuana.