Detractors of cannabis legalization have long postulated that if made legal, cannabis would pose as a significant danger to drivers and thus increase the incidents of vehicular accidents on the road. However, a study has proven that cannabis is 10 times safer than alcohol, a substance which has been the cause of death of thousands of people on America's roads alone.
A study that was conducted in France, which gathered data from all the fatal accidents in France in 2011, had its primary researchers saying: “Drivers under the influence of alcohol are 17.8 times more likely to be responsible for a fatal accident. Drivers under the influence of cannabis, by contrast, are 1.65 times more likely to be responsible for causing a fatal accident.”
“We know alcohol is an issue, but is cannabis an issue or is cannabis an issue when paired with alcohol? We tried to find out,” said National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS) associate research scientist and study co-author Tim Brown.
Canada wants health warnings for legal pot like those on regular tobacco products
Health Canada on Tuesday, November 21 has suggested that should the government's plan for the legalization of pot push through, with cannabis products to follow the packaging of tobacco products, and contain health warnings that proliferate in the packs of the latter.
Health Canada has prepared proposals that plans on what can be displayed on a package and what can't, including anything that might encourage youngsters to use cannabis.
The department's consultation paper regarding the matter is now up for public feedback until around the end of January 2018.
Following this initiative, Statistics Canada also announced on Tuesday that it will begin measuring the economic and social impacts of medical marijuana – even before it has passed legalization. Doing so can allow governments, businesses, and the nation as a whole to see a clearer picture of the economic and social consequences of legal marijuana.
The plan is to legalize marijuana by July 2018.
As of this writing, various entities have been preparing for cannabis retail distribution to be facilitated all over the country. Lift Co. Ltd., a Toronto-based cannabis media and technology company, has announced the first retail training and certification program for frontlife staff in Canada's upcoming cannabis retail outlets, in partnership with MADD Canada (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).
Lift's certification program will provide retail staff with the necessary tools to distribute cannabis safely. (Related: Cannabis innovators set out to map the marijuana genome: new information could prevent the sale of falsely advertised bud.)
“Provinces want to ensure that retail staff are trained in product-specific knowledge while providing standardized guidance to consumers about cannabis and each product's effects. The standardization of such novel knowledge, expanding at this rate and at this scale, is impossible without a proven solution,” says Lift Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Matei Olaru.
For his part, MADD Canada CEO Andrew Murie said, “Our experience with alcohol sales has shown that having comprehensive training and responsible service guidelines for front-line staff is crucial to reducing alcohol-related harms, including impaired driving. The same will be true of cannabis retail sales. MADD Canada is pleased to partner with a leader like Lift and support this program, which will ensure that all those involved in the retail sales of cannabis are well-trained about the products, about safe usage guidelines, and about social responsibility principles.”
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