FRIEND DRIVES WHILE 'HIGH'

Welcome to the Burlington Post's advice column Teen Care. In it,
Halton resident Diane Shea answers questions from parents and young
people about day-to-day teen issues. Teen Care appears in the Post
every other Friday. To submit a question to Shea, please see the end
of this week's column.

Q: I'm in my last year of high school. I like to party and have fun as
much as the next guy and I occasionally do a little harmless underage
drinking at parties or at school proms.

Obviously teens at my age still think getting 'plastered' on the
weekends is the thing to do and the guys that do that around me don't
bother me, it's more of funny entertainment.

My close guy friends don't do the heavy teenage drinking so much
anymore, but instead they smoke marijuana often. It's always around me
at parties and after I tried it once years ago, I just decline offers
to smoke up.

I don't care that my friends do it once in a while, because it's just
a dumb phase that is essentially harmless because they don't do it
that much. What bothers me is when my best buddy gets high and then
drives. He is usually the designated driver at parties cause he
doesn't like drinking, but lately he has still been the d.d. and high
while driving us all home on the weekends.

Sometimes I don't realize he's stoned until after we reach my house
and I notice his bloodshot eyes. I always tell him I won't be in the
car with him when he's doing something dumb like that, but I end up
giving in because I have no other ride. And I don't have enough cash
to be taking cabs every weekend. He always says that being high while
driving doesn't affect you the same way alcohol does and that his
vision and judgement isn't clouded. I doubt that.

Do you have any idea how I can get him to stop being so stupid and
being high when he drives? I don't want to start a fight or offend
him, plus I don't want to look like a tattle-tale wimp in front of my
friends, because they don't care if he's driving them when he's
stoned. This issue especially bugs me because my cousin's friend
recently died in a drinking and driving car accident -- are drugs that
different from alcohol?

- -- Tommy, Age 18

A: Thank-you for raising this issue. Drug users are disproportionately
involved in fatal car accidents. A study by the Societe de l,assurance
automobile du Quebec determined that more than 30 per cent of fatal
accidents in that province involved drugs or a combination of drugs
and alcohol. The Ontario Student Drug Use Survey in 2003 found that 20
per cent of high school drivers reported driving within one hour of
using cannabis at least once in that year.

This is serious, since many teens think that smoking marijuana does
not impair their driving ability. Wrong.

Studies reveal that, for up to 24 hours after smoking marijuana, a
person's ability to drive a vehicle safely can be seriously impaired,
including alertness, ability to concentrate, and overall
co-ordination. Also, driving while impaired by alcohol or a drug is
currently a criminal offence that can result in severe penalties,
including a maximum of life imprisonment if it causes the death of
another person. So, never accept a drive from your friend when he's
stoned. If you can't afford a cab, call your parents, or walk home if
you have to. When he's clear-headed, try to talk to your friend about
this, because he apparently does not understand the dangerous road
that he is traveling.