MORE ROAD BLOCKS FOR MADD CAMPAIGN

MADD Fears For Drivers Over Lax Marijuana Laws

Decriminalizing marijuana will only contribute to the carnage on our roads.

That was the resounding message made at the launch of the Mothers Against
Drunk Driving (MADD) 2003 annual Red Ribbon campaign earlier this week.
This year's theme is: "Tie one on for safety."

MADD has been lobbying to stop passage of federal Bill C38 that would make
toking legal. Wednesday morning at the ribbon launch, MADD executive
director Andrew Murie announced, "I'm 99 per cent convinced the bill won't
come out of committee this week.

"We're not anti-cannabis, we want to get rid of impaired drivers," said
Murie. "We told the parliamentary committee that passing this bill would
give Prime Minister Jean Chretien a legacy of more dead teens on the road.
Right now, in Ontario and Quebec, 15 per cent of teens surveyed say they
drink and drive. Twenty per cent of them say they toke and drive. If this
bill passed, those numbers would go through the roof."

Ontario's graduated license has zero tolerance for alcohol use among new
drivers, and that's a great law, according to Murie. But, until we pass a
law that gives police the power to test for drug impairment, says Murie,
teens will continue to drive when stoned. Teens know they can use marijuana
without endangering their licenses because the drug does not register on a
breathalyzer.

Bruce Miller, Chief Administrative Officer for the 22,000-member Police
Association of Ontario said, "I've seen obviously impaired drivers blow
under the limit for alcohol because they're using drugs...so legally,
they're not impaired. And police need the driver's permission to take a
body sample to test for drugs at the hospital. In 22 years as a police
officer, I never once saw a conviction for driving under the influence of
drugs."

The more than 5,000 volunteers in 62 chapters of MADD Canada have led a
battle to get drunk drivers off the road. The red ribbon campaign that
continues throughout the holiday season commemorates the victims of drunk
driving and reminds everyone to drive sober and safe.

Despite the difference education and police programs like RIDE (Reduce
Impaired Driving Everywhere) have made over the years, four people are
killed and 200 injured by drunk drivers every day in Canada. They are
victims of crime. Drunk drivers are the leading cause of death for teens.
In 1980, 60 per cent of deaths on the road were alcohol related. By 1999,
that percentage had gone down to 33 per cent.

Murie said increased availability of alcohol and more marketing by the
alcohol industry caused that percentage to increase in 2001 to 39 per cent
across Canada.

But, according to Peel Police Traffic Services Staff Sgt. Craig Ellis, the
numbers of fatal collisions involving alcohol in Peel have remained
constant the past three years.

"In 1999 we had 34 fatal collisions and four of them were alcohol related.
So far, in 2003, we have the same numbers," he said. "We're not proud that
the number of fatal collisions involving alcohol hasn't decreased, but they
have stayed about the same at a time when Peel population has increased and
there are 180,000 more vehicles registered in the region."

Peel does not have statistics for collisions related to drugs.

"We are concerned there is no legislation or test in place to assist
officers in investigation of people impaired by drugs," said Ellis. "I see
decriminalization of marijuana as it relates to people driving. That could
become quite problematic."

It is still illegal to use marijuana in Canada, but the move to
decriminalize the drug has Mayor McCallion worried. McCallion has been a
vocal and financial supporter of MADD for years. She told the 40 people at
the launch, "MADD has done great work, but now you have to expand your
program to deal with drugs. For someone in an accident now, police can test
for alcohol but can't test for drugs and I believe a lot of the aggressive
driving on our roads today is due to drugs."