One in ten Ontario high school drivers reported driving within an hour of using cannabis
Among 1,161 licensed high school students in Ontario, 10.3% reported driving within an hour of cannabis use, with cannabis dependence, low perceived risk, and pro-legalization attitudes as the strongest predictors.
Quick Facts
What This Study Found
Past-year cannabis-impaired driving prevalence was 10.3%. The strongest predictors were probable cannabis dependence (OR=12.7), low perceived risk of cannabis (OR=5.3), pro-legalization attitudes (OR=4.3), and being male (OR=2.6). Cannabis-impaired driving was also correlated with texting while driving and driving after alcohol.
Key Numbers
1,161 licensed students; mean age 16.8; 10.3% drove within 1 hour of cannabis use; OR 12.7 for cannabis dependence; OR 5.3 for low perceived risk; OR 4.3 for pro-legalization; OR 2.6 for male
How They Did This
Cross-sectional analysis of 1,161 licensed high school students from the 2017 Ontario Student Health and Drug Use Survey, using multivariable logistic regression.
Why This Research Matters
With cannabis now legal in Canada, understanding what drives teen cannabis-impaired driving is essential for designing effective prevention programs, especially since many correlates are attitudinal and potentially modifiable.
The Bigger Picture
The clustering of cannabis-impaired driving with other risky driving behaviors suggests that prevention programs need to address a broader pattern of risk-taking rather than focusing on cannabis alone.
What This Study Doesn't Tell Us
Self-reported driving behaviors, cross-sectional design, Ontario-specific findings, 2017 data precedes legalization, licensed students may not represent all teen drivers.
Questions This Raises
- ?Has legalization changed the prevalence of cannabis-impaired driving among teens?
- ?Would changing perceptions of cannabis risk through education reduce impaired driving?
- ?Are different intervention approaches needed for dependent vs casual users?
Trust & Context
- Key Stat:
- 10.3% of licensed high school students drove within an hour of cannabis use
- Evidence Grade:
- Large provincial student health survey with multivariable analysis
- Study Age:
- Published in 2021 using 2017 data, before cannabis legalization in Canada. Prevalence may have changed since.
- Original Title:
- Correlates of driving after cannabis use in high school students.
- Published In:
- Preventive medicine, 150, 106667 (2021)
- Authors:
- Cantor, Nathan, Kingsbury, Mila, Hamilton, Hayley A(3), Wild, T Cameron, Owusu-Bempah, Akwasi, Colman, Ian
- Database ID:
- RTHC-03043
Evidence Hierarchy
A snapshot of a population at one point in time.
What do these levels mean? →Frequently Asked Questions
How common is cannabis-impaired driving among teens?
In this Ontario survey, 10.3% of licensed high school students reported driving within an hour of using cannabis in the past year.
What predicts teen cannabis-impaired driving?
The strongest predictor was probable cannabis dependence (12.7 times the odds), followed by low perceived risk of cannabis, pro-legalization attitudes, and being male. These teens also tended to text while driving and drive after drinking.
Read More on RethinkTHC
Cite This Study
https://rethinkthc.com/research/RTHC-03043APA
Cantor, Nathan; Kingsbury, Mila; Hamilton, Hayley A; Wild, T Cameron; Owusu-Bempah, Akwasi; Colman, Ian. (2021). Correlates of driving after cannabis use in high school students.. Preventive medicine, 150, 106667. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106667
MLA
Cantor, Nathan, et al. "Correlates of driving after cannabis use in high school students.." Preventive medicine, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106667
RethinkTHC
RethinkTHC Research Database. "Correlates of driving after cannabis use in high school stud..." RTHC-03043. Retrieved from https://rethinkthc.com/research/cantor-2021-correlates-of-driving-after
Access the Original Study
Study data sourced from PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
This study breakdown was produced by the RethinkTHC research team. We analyze and report published research findings without making health recommendations. All interpretations are based solely on the published abstract and study data.