FREDERICTON — A six-year analysis of more than 10,000 Canadian drivers involved in motor vehicle collisions suggests cannabis has edged out alcohol as the most common impairing substance detected through after-crash blood testing.
"Driving after cannabis use appears to be an emerging problem in Canada and may now be more common than driving after drinking alcohol," the study says. Of the 624 injured drivers from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador who were tested during the study period, 26 per cent of drivers tested positive for cannabis while 22 per cent tested positive for alcohol. Overall, 70 per cent tested positive for drugs or alcohol, which was also higher than the national average.
Researchers in British Columbia have been studying cannabis in blood alcohol since 2012, and it’s clear that the number of drivers with weed in their system has gone up since legalization in 2018, he said.