Being male, using cannabis frequently, and having friends who drive high predicted lower risk perception of cannabis-impaired driving
Among nearly 1,500 young Canadian cannabis users, those who perceived cannabis-impaired driving as low risk were more likely to be male, use cannabis frequently, and have friends who drove after using.
Quick Facts
What This Study Found
Lower risk perception of driving after cannabis use was associated with being male, weekly-to-daily cannabis use, personal engagement in cannabis-impaired driving, general risky driving behaviors, being a passenger with an impaired driver, number of friends who drive after cannabis use, and peer approval. Having also driven drunk and living in urban areas were associated with higher risk perception.
Key Numbers
1,467 Canadian drivers aged 17-35; factors predicting low risk perception: male sex, weekly-to-daily use, personal DACU, risky driving history, peer DACU, peer approval; factors predicting higher risk perception: DUI-alcohol history, urban residence, recent traffic tickets, irritability/cognitive problems
How They Did This
Cross-sectional online survey of 1,467 Canadian drivers aged 17-35 who used cannabis in the past year. Multivariate linear regression identified factors associated with perceiving low risk from driving after cannabis use.
Why This Research Matters
Low risk perception is one of the strongest predictors of actually driving after cannabis use. Identifying who holds these perceptions can help target prevention messaging.
The Bigger Picture
The role of peer norms in shaping risk perception suggests that social environment may be as important as individual characteristics in determining who drives after using cannabis.
What This Study Doesn't Tell Us
Cross-sectional design cannot determine whether low risk perception leads to behavior or vice versa; self-selected sample of cannabis users; self-reported data; Canadian sample may not generalize to other contexts
Questions This Raises
- ?Why would having driven drunk increase cannabis-DUI risk perception?
- ?Could targeted campaigns for frequent male cannabis users in rural areas reduce impaired driving?
Trust & Context
- Key Stat:
- 1,467 cannabis-using drivers surveyed
- Evidence Grade:
- Reasonably sized cross-sectional survey with multivariate analysis, but cannot establish causality between risk perception and behavior.
- Study Age:
- 2024 study
- Original Title:
- Factors related to the low-risk perception of driving after cannabis use.
- Published In:
- Accident; analysis and prevention, 202, 107584 (2024)
- Authors:
- Huỳnh, Christophe(3), Beaulieu-Thibodeau, Alexis(2), Fallu, Jean-Sébastien(4), Bergeron, Jacques, Jacques, Alain, Brochu, Serge
- Database ID:
- RTHC-05393
Evidence Hierarchy
Watches what happens naturally without intervening.
What do these levels mean? →Frequently Asked Questions
Who is most likely to think driving after cannabis is safe?
Young men who use cannabis weekly or daily, who already drive after using, who have friends who do the same, and whose peers approve of the behavior were most likely to perceive cannabis-impaired driving as low risk.
What made people see cannabis-impaired driving as more risky?
Interestingly, having driven drunk was associated with seeing cannabis-impaired driving as riskier. Living in urban areas, having recent traffic tickets, and reporting irritability or cognitive problems also predicted higher risk perception.
Read More on RethinkTHC
Cite This Study
https://rethinkthc.com/research/RTHC-05393APA
Huỳnh, Christophe; Beaulieu-Thibodeau, Alexis; Fallu, Jean-Sébastien; Bergeron, Jacques; Jacques, Alain; Brochu, Serge. (2024). Factors related to the low-risk perception of driving after cannabis use.. Accident; analysis and prevention, 202, 107584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2024.107584
MLA
Huỳnh, Christophe, et al. "Factors related to the low-risk perception of driving after cannabis use.." Accident; analysis and prevention, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2024.107584
RethinkTHC
RethinkTHC Research Database. "Factors related to the low-risk perception of driving after ..." RTHC-05393. Retrieved from https://rethinkthc.com/research/huynh-2024-factors-related-to-the
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.