Virginia authorities announced the results of a recent survey on the dangers of cannabis-impaired driving, but things didn’t go exactly as planned: Officials said that the survey shows “unsettling” and “alarming” attitudes about how safe it is to drive when under the influence of pot.

The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority (CCA) released new survey results that measure Virginians’ attitudes toward cannabis use and driving according to an October 25 press release.

Stratacomm, a public affairs consulting firm, conducted the survey and received over 750 responses representing a demographic cross-section of Virginia residents ages 16 and older. 

About 23% of respondents reported consuming cannabis in the past three months and about 14% of Virginia drivers who were surveyed said that they have driven high a few times or more in the past year. 

Almost one-third of those surveyed believe cannabis makes them a safer driver. It is important to remember, however, that some respondents are only 16 years of age, barely old enough to drive. It might make the loose attitudes about driving safety easier to imagine.

The data shows that Virginians do not perceive cannabis-impaired driving to be nearly as dangerous as other risky behaviors—like drinking and driving: 60% of respondents view texting and driving and 49% regard alcohol-impaired driving to be “extremely dangerous,” but only a quarter of Virginians—26%—view cannabis-impaired driving as “extremely dangerous.”

The CCA will use the survey results to develop a safe driving campaign mandated by the 2021 General Assembly that will highlight the dangers of cannabis-impaired driving, which is set to launch in January 2023.

The CCA has their work cut out for them. “These results are worrying and underscore the General Assembly was right to direct the CCA to undertake a safe driving campaign,” said John Keohane, CCA Board Chair and retired Police Chief of Hopewell, Virginia.

“As a public safety and public health agency, the CCA currently has no greater priority than creating a well-funded, aggressive, and sustained campaign aimed at reducing the incidence of marijuana-impaired driving,” added Jeremy Preiss, the CCA’s Acting Head and Chief Officer for Regulatory, Policy, and External Affairs.

The findings also suggest that not all Virginians who consume cannabis do it responsibly: 47% of cannabis consumers who were surveyed reported they do not always have a plan for a sober ride and 24% of respondents indicating they have been a passenger in a car operated by a high driver more than once in the past year.

“The CCA wants to empower Virginians to make informed decisions about marijuana use and ensure people understand that operating a vehicle while under the influence of marijuana is extremely dangerous,” concluded Brianna Bonat, the CCA’s lead public health official.

The CCA invites people who are interested in learning more public health and safety information related to cannabis to visit cannabis.virginia.gov.

Efforts to promote safe driving with cannabis are active at the federal level as well. The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) commissioned a report about educational campaigns on cannabis and driving on July 26. The GHSA partnered with National Alliance to Stop Impaired Driving to create a playbook written specifically for State Highway Safety Offices (SHSO).

Similar efforts to pinpoint the need for safety for people who consume cannabis is ongoing in Canada as well. Research published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in April 2021 was conducted by research team associated with Lady Davis Institute of the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal and found similar attitudes and misinformation about driving under the influence of pot. 

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