McGill study reveals young drivers who use cannabis have an increased risk of collision

Young people who use cannabis while driving are more likely to be involved in a collision even though five hours have passed since their inhalation, according to a study released Monday by McGill University.

The research, published just two days before the legalization of cannabis across the country, revealed that performance had dropped dramatically in key areas such as reaction time after inhalation of the equivalent of less than 10 years. A typical seal.

"This new trial provides important Canadian evidence that cannabis can affect the skills needed to drive safely even five hours after eating," Jeff Walker said in a statement.

Walker is the Director of Strategy for the Canadian Automobile Association, which funded the clinical trial conducted by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center and McGill University, based in Montreal.

"If you consume, do not drive," he says. "Find another way to get home or stay where you are."

This clinical trial examined the effects of cannabis on the driving habits of occasional consumers aged 18 to 24 years.

A total of 45 study participants, including 21 women, were placed in a driving simulator and exposed to "the common types of distractions on the road" during 180 test sessions.

Participants completed the simulations one hour, three hours and five hours after inhalation of a standard dose of 100 mg of cannabis in a vaporizer (a typical joint corresponds to 300-500 mg of dried cannabis). Participants were also tested without cannabis in their system.

Although the dose of cannabis does not affect simple driving without distraction, there is a "significant alteration of complex and new tasks related to driving", according to the findings of a reading committee, published in CMAJ Open, an open access journal published by the Canadian Medical Association.

In addition, a high percentage of participants reported not feeling as safe driving after using cannabis, even five hours after using cannabis.

The findings corroborate the Canadian Guidelines for Low-Risk Cannabis Use, which, published by the Canadian Public Health Association in 2017, recommend waiting six hours after cannabis use before driving, indicates l & # 39; study.

Study co-author Isabelle Gélinas, a researcher at McGill's School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, said the results of the clinical trial add to the growing amount of scientific evidence proving that cannabis affects driving ability.

"The findings provide further evidence on the extent to which performance related to driving is compromised after a typical dose of inhaled cannabis, even five hours after consumption," Gélinas said in its statement.

CAA is committed to advancing "this important road safety issue, but governments must also intervene," Walker said, calling for more funds to study the effects of cannabis on driving.