Alcohol and cannabis impaired driving among Atlantic Canadian high school students La conduite sous l’influence de l’alcool et du cannabis chez les élèves du secondaire au Canada atlantique

摘要

PURPOSE Motor vehicle collisions (MVC) are one of the leading causes of death for Canadianyouth. Previous research has demonstrated that many Atlantic Canadian youth haveexperienced MVC-related injuries or been at high risk of MVC-related injuries as a result ofsubstance use. [1] The purpose of this study was to assess current attitudes towards alcoholand cannabis impaired driving and the prevalence of impaired driving among Atlantic Canadianhigh school students. METHODS During the 2009/2010 school year, four high schools eachfrom Prince Edward Island (PEI) and Newfoundland (NL) and two high schools each from NovaScotia (NS) and New Brunswick (NB) participated in the study Surveys were completedanonymously by 576 students. Data was analyzed using SPSS 17.0. Frequency distributionsand chi square analysis were completed. RESULTS The average age of the youth was 15.9years with the majority in Grade 10, slightly less than half were males and the majority wererural dwellers. Students reported that in the 3 months prior to being surveyed, 70% hadconsumed alcohol and 28% had used cannabis. Over 100 students (19%) reported they hadbeen a passenger in a vehicle with a drinking driver in the past 3 months. Students themselvesreported driving after drinking (4%) and driving while high (6%). Significant differences betweenprovinces were not detected. With respect to attitudes, students reported that alcohol (88%) anddrug use (80%) were more likely to result in a crash than distraction (71%), speeding (67%),fatigue (65%), and cell phone use (60%). Respondents felt that 28% of their peers would not beconcerned with alcohol impaired driving and 40% would not be concerned with drug impaireddriving. Less than half of students reported using seat belts regularly. CONCLUSION The studyfindings provide evidence of the significant number of students in Atlantic Canada who continue to drive impaired or ride with a driver who is impaired despite persistent efforts to establish saferdriving behaviours. In addition, there are a significant proportion of students who underestimatethe risk of such behaviour. These findings have important implications for school-basedprevention programming and broader public policy.