A Prince George professor is set to embark on a study involving marijuana and motor vehicle collisions.
The University of Northern British Columbia's Dr. Russ Callaghan has received a $124,000 grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to fund a one-year study of impacts of the Cannabis Act on motor vehicle collision injuries involving young people and cannabis-impaired driving.
"A central concern about cannabis legalization is its potential impact on cannabis-impaired driving among young people,” Callaghan, the study’s lead investigator, says in a news release. “This research will help to assess this issue.”
A team will work alongside Callaghan examining data, which was gathered by emergency departments across Canada, that will determine the effects of legalization of marijuana use on patterns of motor vehicle collision among youth.
“According to recent data, young people have the highest prevalence of cannabis use in Canada, comprising more than 20 per cent of users,” Callaghan adds. “Cannabis-impaired driving is now also more prevalent among adolescents than alcohol-impaired driving. It is essential for the public and policymakers to understand the potential problems and benefits of cannabis legalization, and this study will provide important evidence regarding a major area of harm to youth and young adults in our society — that is, the burden of severe motor vehicle collision injuries in this subpopulation."
The team comes from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia and the University of Victoria.
