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More Ontarians driving high on edibles, CAA survey

Published on December 1, 2023 by David Wylie

Photo: Adobe stock/the oz.

As police announce they’ll be conducting yearly roadside checks, a new survey from CAA finds a spike in Ontario drivers getting behind the wheel while high on edibles.

The recent survey, conducted by CAA South Central Ontario, found 38 per cent of cannabis-impaired drivers in Ontario consumed edibles before driving. That’s a 12 per cent increase from the previous year, and more than double the rate in 2019.

“Edibles are harder to detect and can take up to two hours for the effects to kick in,” says Michael Stewart, community relations consultant at CAA SCO.

“The data shows us that while drivers primarily engage in cannabis-impaired driving after smoking a joint, the prevalence of driving under the influence of edibles is on the upswing, and that poses a greater risk to road safety.”

The CAA survey found about seven per cent (about 750,000 Ontario drivers) say they drove after consuming some form of cannabis in the past three months.

The survey also found nearly half (45%) have felt high while driving.