(LifeSiteNews) — Canada has seen incidents of driving while drug impaired skyrocket since marijuana was legalized by Parliament under the Liberal Party.
According to statistics released by Blacklock’s Reporter, Cannabis Crime Statistics has reported that cases of Canadians driving while under the influence of drugs have more than doubled since 2018 when cannabis was legalized under the leadership of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“The rate of drug-impaired driving offences increased 105 percent from 2017 to 2020, from nine to 19 offences per 100,000 population, respectively,” according to Cannabis Crime Statistics.
“Due to the new legislation, police have additional means available to detect drug-impaired driving which may in part explain this increase,” it added. “The rate of drug-impaired driving offences increased in all but two jurisdictions.”
The two unaffected regions were Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
According to the Cannabis Crime Statistics, the highest rates of drug-impaired driving were in British Columbia where the numbers jumped 212%. The other provinces and territory saw less drastic increases with Yukon up 163%, Prince Edward Island 142%, Ontario 133%, New Brunswick 130%, Québec 88%, Newfoundland and Labrador 83%, Saskatchewan 65%, Nova Scotia 58%, Manitoba 48%, and Alberta 47%.
When cannabis was legalized in 2018, Statistics Canada warned that it was unable to determine how the legalization would impact drug-impaired driving.
“I cannot predict,” testified Yvan Clermont, then-director of StatsCan’s Centre for Justice Statistics.
“Do you have any statistics where you’ve asked people whether they will use marijuana or use it more often after it’s legalized?” Senator Denise Batters of Saskatchewan asked.
“We have not asked that,” Clermont replied.
The uncertainty caused Batters to further question the legalization of cannabis. “The more I hear about this issue, the more I can’t believe the government is going to legalize this,” he said. “I’m even more alarmed at how marijuana legalization, and even more impaired driving, will cripple our court system.”
According to a Public Opinion Research on Drug Impaired Driving report from May 2, 2022, the Department of Public Safety stated that Canadians driving while drug-impaired had become a “major contributor” to fatal road accidents.
“Drug-impaired driving is a major contributor to fatal road crashes and young people continue to be the largest group of drivers who die in crashes and test positive for drugs,” the report asserted.
Notably, many of the surveyed marijuana users did not consider using cannabis to cause them to be unable to drive, with 26% revealing that they “operated a vehicle while under the influence.”
“Among those who have operated a vehicle while under the influence of cannabis, most said they did not recognize their behaviour as risky with two in five (39%) reporting they did not feel impaired and one in five (23%) believing they could still drive carefully,” researched recorded.
Drug use has become rampant across Canada since the legalization of cannabis, with British Columbia legalizing hard drugs this year.
Recent statistics from British Columbia show that more people ages 10-59 years have died from overdoses than from disease, murder, suicide, and natural disaster combined in the months after the province decriminalized the possession of hard drugs.
Last month, LifeSiteNews reported on how some high school students in British Columbia were even given tools to snort hard drugs, such as cocaine, after a presentation was held at their school.
Similarly, one of the Canada’s largest Indigenous groups requested permission to search Canadians’ private mail, as they claim letters are a common means of smuggling drugs.
Furthermore, a newly released documentary by British Columbia-based filmmaker Aaron Gunn titled “Canada Is Dying” analyzes the massive increase in hard drug use in both the province and nationwide and how it affects Canadians.