156,000 Ontario Drivers Recently Drove High on Edibles, CAA Estimates

Vehicles on Highway 401 westbound in Kingston, Ont., on Jan. 11, 2019. (The Canadian Press/Lars Hagberg)

An estimated 156,000 drivers in Ontario have admitted to having recently driven high on a cannabis edible, according to a survey conducted by the Canadian Automobile Association of South Central Ontario (CAA SCO).

The survey said there over the past few years there has been a 10 percent increase in the number of cannabis-impaired drivers who admitted to having consumed an edible before driving, rising from 16 percent in 2019 to 26 percent in 2022. With roughly 10 million Ontario drivers, that figure translates to about 156,000 drivers who have driven high on edibles in the past three months, CAA says.

“It’s shocking that we’re seeing this many people who are getting behind the wheel while high,” said Michael Stewart, community relations consultant at CAA SCO, in a Dec. 1 release. “Our data shows an alarming trend in the use of edibles and driving. With the growing popularity of cookies, gummies, and chocolates, since legalization, the use of edibles continues to rise and so do people who drive high on edibles.”

Stewart warns that edibles pose a greater risk to road safety because they are harder to detect and can take up to two hours for the effects to kick in, which means that people may get behind the wheel sober, only to become high mid-trip. He also noted that the effects can last up to 12 hours, with residual effects lasting up to 24 hours.

The CAA survey also found that, in the past three months, roughly 600,000 Ontario drivers have admitted to driving after consuming cannabis—a number that has remained the same since CAA’s survey in 2019. More than half (about 336,000) of the cannabis-impaired drivers said they have driven within three hours of consumption. Roughly a third of cannabis-impaired drivers who drove the same day felt high while driving.

Nearly half (about 282,000) of the cannabis-impaired drivers were also impaired with other substances such as alcohol or other drugs, CAA said.

The survey also found that while most Ontario drivers (89 percent) say that cannabis-impaired driving is a serious risk to road safety, only half of them are aware of the penalties.

“Because of the novelty of edibles, there seems to be a knowledge gap surrounding the impaired-driving laws related to substances other than alcohol. However, studies show that the drug affects nearly every skill related to driving,” Stewart said. “It impairs a driver’s motor skills, making it harder to judge distances, and can slow reaction times.”

Cannabis-impaired drivers, if caught and fail a Drug Recognition Expert’s evaluation, face an immediate 90-day licence suspension, a seven-day vehicle impoundment, and a $550 fine.

If convicted in court, drivers will also have their licence suspended for at least a year, and face various mandatory stipulations including an education or treatment program, and the use of an ignition interlock device for at least a year, according to CAA.