Pubdate: Tue, 20 May 2008 Source: Chronicle Herald (CN NS) Copyright: 2008 The Halifax Herald Limited Contact: http://thechronicleherald.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180 Author: Devin Stevens Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?224 (Cannabis and Driving) SURVEY TO ASK DRIVERS ABOUT DRUGS, CRASHES Researcher Wants To Study The Effect Of Being High While Driving Mark Asbridge wants Canadians to know exactly how risky it is to use drugs and get behind the wheel. In three years, he hopes to have the scientific data to prove it. "We want to actually know how much THC, or cocaine, or benzodiazepines are in (an impaired driver's) system," said Mr. Asbridge, an assistant professor of epidemiology and community health at Dalhousie University. "Do we see collisions in people who have higher levels of cannabis in their system? Is the severity of the collision worse when people are more impaired or less impaired?" To find out, Mr. Asbridge and his staff will survey drivers in hospital emergency departments. Researchers will ask drivers involved in car accidents for permission to test their blood. They'll also ask for a short face-to-face interview about each driver's past and present drug use. Participation is voluntary. Mr. Asbridge said he has had an 87 per cent participation rate in similar studies. The research will be done at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, as well as St. Michael's and Humber River Regional hospitals in Toronto. Mr. Asbridge said there have been studies in the past about drugs and driving, but those usually happen in controlled laboratory settings. Some researchers have given participants a few joints and asked them to drive, using a safety system much like a driver-training car. Other studies rely on drug users reporting their own behaviour. Mr. Asbridge said he wants a more real-world approach. That's why he and his staff will talk to crash victims in hospitals. "Different studies look at whether different drugs are present, if alcohol is present," he said. "We want to look at if the injuries change with multiple drugs versus single drugs. How does alcohol and cannabis relate to each other?" The $650,000 study will be completed in 2011. Mr. Asbridge said he hopes hard numbers will help Canadians make smart choices before taking the wheel. "The reason it's an important question is that there's a lot of policy activity around this issue at the federal level right now." Ottawa passed Bill C-2, in part, to crack down on impaired driving. It gives police greater access to blood, breath or urine tests when they suspect a driver is high. The bill also increases the punishment for driving while impaired. It goes into effect on July 2. "There's not a heck of a lot of Canadian (scientific) evidence that's been used to support the legislation," said Mr. Asbridge. "We're hoping part of the benefits of our research is to help inform the policy process. Ideally, the policy would have followed the research, but politicians don't follow that model." A 2002 Statistics Canada report found that three million Canadians aged 15 or older smoked marijuana or hashish at least once in the previous year. RCMP Sgt. Mark Gallagher said he has seen car wrecks caused by drug use and knows it affects a person's ability to drive. "Their argument is that they know what they're doing," Sgt. Gallagher said in a phone interview. "Well, the same argument is made by people who drink. "They say their senses are heightened. Well, their senses are heightened for sensory touches, but when you're talking about depth perception, reaction, all these things, there have been scientific tests saying it's much lower." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin