‘Significant Increase’ in Drug-Impaired Drivers Across Canada Since Cannabis Legalization: Federal Study

Highway traffic moves into Calgary in a file photo. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

There has been a “significant increase” in the number of people driving under the influence of marijuana since Parliament legalized recreational cannabis use in 2018, according to a study by a federal department.

“Compared to data from previous surveys, there has been a significant reduction in the prevalence of alcohol use among drivers, but a significant increase in the prevalence of drug use, cannabis in particular,” said a study published by the Department of Public Safety on Jan. 27, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.

Titled “Annual National Data Report To Inform Trends And Patterns In Drug Impaired Driving 2022,” the study cited data collected from driver surveys conducted across Canada before and after the legalization of recreational marijuana.

About 21 percent of marijuana users surveyed told researchers they had previously driven within two hours of consuming cannabis, which meets the legal threshold for impaired driving.

The study also showed the number of police-reported, impaired-driving incidents in Canada from 2009 to 2021.

In 2009, police reported just over 1,400 individuals driving under the influence of drugs. That number rose every year afterward and was greater than 7,400 as of 2021, in which drug-impaired driving incidents represented 11 percent of all impaired driving incidents—an increase of nine percent from 2020.

“It is also interesting to note that the proportion of alcohol-impaired driving cases cleared by charge has tended to decline over the years: 56.4% in 2019, compared to 51.7% in 2021,” said the study. “Conversely, in the case of [drug-impaired driving incidents], the proportion has increased from 47.4% in 2019, to 59.2% in 2021.”

Cannabis

Researchers also cited a 2022 study that examined blood samples from over 4,300 B.C. drivers, 3,550 of which were sampled before recreational cannabis was legalized and the rest after legalization.

The study found that, after cannabis legalization, the prevalence of “moderately injured drivers” with a THC level of at least two nanograms per milliliter had “more than doubled,” researchers wrote.

Public Safety Canada’s report comes after a recent survey conducted by the Canadian Automobile Association of South Central Ontario (CAA SCO) said that an estimated 156,000 drivers in Ontario admitted to recently driving while high on a cannabis edible.

The survey also said the number of marijuana-impaired drivers who have admitted to consuming an edible before driving has risen by 10 percent since 2019.

“It’s shocking that we’re seeing this many people who are getting behind the wheel while high,” said CAA SCO community relations consultant Michael Stewart in a Dec. 1 news release.

The Public Safety Department’s report on drug-impaired driving also comes several months after the same federal office wrote in a briefing note that about one-third of Canada’s cannabis market is still controlled by illegal dealers despite nationwide legalization in 2018.

The Liberal government is currently conducting a review of its legalization of recreational cannabis and should have its report on the matter ready for both the House of Commons and the Senate by early 2024.

Andrew Chen contributed to this report.