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According to the results of a clinical trial conducted at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center (RI-MUHC) and McGill University, young Canadians are more likely to suffer a car accident. even five hours after the inhalation of cannabis, and funded by the Canadian Automobile. Association (CAA).
Research has revealed that performance has dropped significantly in key areas such as reaction time even five hours after the inhalation of the equivalent of less than a typical joint. The driving performance of the participants, which was tested in a driving simulator, deteriorated as soon as they were exposed to the common types of distractions on the road.
The peer-reviewed study is published online at 6:00 am EST on Monday, August 22, at CMAJ Open, a sister newspaper online at CMAJ (Journal of the Canadian Medical Association).
The trial examined the impact of cannabis on the ability to drive occasional users aged 18 to 24 years. CAA surveys have found that a significant number of young Canadians – one in five – believe they are as good or better drivers than sober.
"This new trial provides important Canadian evidence that cannabis can affect the skills needed to drive safely even five hours after use," said Jeff Walker, CAA's Strategy Manager. "The message is simple: if you consume, do not drive, find another way to get home or stay where you are."
"This rigorous experimental trial is adding to a growing number of scientific publications on the use of cannabis and driving," said study co-author Isabelle Gélinas, a researcher at the University of Ottawa. 39, McGill School of Physical and Occupational Therapy. "The findings provide further evidence on the extent to which driving performance is compromised after a typical dose of inhaled cannabis, even five hours after consumption."
Under controlled conditions, researchers tested the performance of young Canadians in driving in a simulated environment, up to five hours after cannabis use. Participants were also tested without cannabis in their system to establish a baseline.
Although the participants showed no significant effect in the absence of distraction, as soon as the conditions became more realistic, driving performance decreased considerably. In addition, a large percentage of young drivers reported not feeling as safe after using cannabis, even five hours after using cannabis.
"When you feel that you are not safe, you are right, you are not!" Said Walker.
"CAA is committed to doing its part to advance this important road safety issue, but governments must also step in," Walker said. "We need funds specifically dedicated to studying the effects of cannabis on driving – a research spanning the spectrum from basic research to road safety initiatives."
The CAA-funded study was conducted by a multidisciplinary research team at the Center for Innovative Medicine (CIM) of the RI-MUHC, under the supervision of Drs. Nicol Korner-Bitensky and Isabelle Gélinas, driving researchers, and Dr. Mark Ware, cannabis researcher. The driving simulator used in the study was provided by Virage Simulation, a Montreal-based company. The lead author, Dr. Tatiana Ogourtsova, is a postdoctoral fellow. Ms. Maja Kalaba, MUHC Junior Epidemiologist, was the project coordinator. (As of July 1, 2018, Mr. Ware became an employee of Canopy Growth Corporation, a licensed Canadian producer of medical cannabis, at which time he was no longer involved in the analysis of the study data. .)
Participants in this randomized clinical trial were between 18 and 24 years of age and were cannabis users for recreational purposes (ie, they used cannabis at least once in the past three years). last months but not more than four times a week). The test tested their driving performance over four different days using a state-of-the-art driving simulator and a useful field-of-view test. The tests were randomized 1 hour, 3 hours and 5 hours after cannabis use. They used a medical grade vaporizer to consume a dose of 100 mg of dried cannabis flowers containing 13% THC during several inhalations. A typical seal is 300-500 mg of dried cannabis.
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More information:
Tatiana Ogourtsova et al. Cannabis use and driving performance among young recreational users: a randomized, intra-subject clinical trial CMAJ Open (2018). DOI: 10.9778 / cmajo.20180164
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