NCJ Number
214686
Journal
Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy Volume: 13 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2006 Pages: 179-187
Date Published
April 2006
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This exploratory pilot study examined key characteristics of cannabis use and driving (CUD) in a sample of Canadian university students reporting such behavior over the last year.
Abstract
Cannabis use appears to have become a normalized behavior in many subpopulations of young adults. Results demonstrate rather accurate risk perceptions of the relative impairment effects from cannabis. It was concerning however, that only a little more than half of the sample saw their own driving skills impaired by cannabis, while most believed that they could effectively compensate for such impairment. Overall, cannabis use and driving (CUD) originated primarily from social settings, impairment risks from cannabis were perceived to be low, and the level of anticipated future CUD was high. The high frequency of CUD in the past year was associated with high frequency of cannabis use. Past research indicated that young adults and students are populations in which cannabis use and traffic accidents are disproportionately prevalent and a primary concern for the area of CUD. The student sample was 18 to 28 years of age, actively enrolled in university studies, and had driven a car within 4 hours of using cannabis within the past 12 months or 1 year. Tables, references