Cannabis Countdown: With Days to Go Before Legalization, Drivers in Ontario are More Willing to Partake as 33% Say They’re At Least Somewhat Likely to Try It, Up 7 Points from Last Year

Toronto, ON, October 10, 2018 — With just over a week to go until recreational cannabis is legalized in Canada, more drivers in Canada’s largest province are saying they’ll use marijuana after legalization: one in three Ontario drivers (33%) say it’s at least somewhat likely (17% very/16% somewhat) they’ll give it a try, a jump of 11 points since 2017. Most of the increase is coming from current or lapsed users of marijuana, while Ontario drivers who’ve never tried it are even less likely than before to say they don’t plan to start once it becomes legal.

More Marijuana-Impaired Driving Expected

Once marijuana is legalized, the prevalent opinion among Ontario drivers (68%) is that there will be more marijuana-impaired driving (35% much more/34% somewhat more) than there is today – an opinion shared by more than half (57%) of current marijuana users.

With expectations of a rise in marijuana-impaired driving comes widespread concern about road safety. Three in four Ontario drivers (77%) describe themselves as either very (39%) or somewhat (38%) concerned for their personal safety on the road once marijuana has been legalized. While overall concern is strongest among those who do not use marijuana (86%), a majority of lapsed (75%) and current users (59%) also say they’re concerned for their safety on the road.

Personal Use Behind the Wheel is Up

The number of Ontario drivers who admit they personally have tried driving a car after smoking or otherwise ingesting marijuana is on the rise: 16% admit to having driven a bit too soon after marijuana use – an increase of 4 points compared to a year ago. Among current users, almost one in two (48%) now claim to have driven under the influence of marijuana. Current users who have driven under the influence are more likely to be male (69%), aged 25-34 (35%), and are often novice drivers with a G1 (19%) or G2 (20%) license.

Opinions are divided as to the impact of marijuana on people’s ability to drive. Seven in ten Ontario drivers (69%) and a little more than half (52%) of current marijuana users think that a driver who is under the influence of marijuana will drive worse than a sober driver. However, nearly two in ten Ontario drivers (17%) are of the view that a marijuana-impaired driver will drive the same (13%) or even better (4%) than a sober driver. Among current marijuana users, this number rises to one in three (33%).

Personal experience has a significant impact on perceptions of driving ability: fully half (51%) of current users who have driven soon after taking marijuana consider a marijuana-impaired driver to driver the same (31%) or better (19%) than a sober driver.

What Does the Law Say?

When it comes to the safe use of marijuana, there is a strong appetite for public information on driving laws and penalties for marijuana-impaired driving: 73% of Ontario drivers say this type of public information is important to them, ahead of information on:

• Health risks for children and youth (64%)
• Health risks in general (62%)
• How to use marijuana responsibly (56%)
• Safe use of different types or forms (53%)
• Social risks of marijuana use for youth (53%)
• The risk of addiction (49%), and
• The reasons why it’s being legalized in the first place (43%).

Support for Legalization Remains Strong

Despite concern, support for the legalization of marijuana is still strong: a majority (62%) of Ontario drivers say they support (26% strongly/36% somewhat) legalization in Canada, while 30% are opposed (16% strongly/14% somewhat) and 8% aren’t sure. Support is strongest among current marijuana users and weakest among those who have never used it.

Half of all Ontario drivers (49%) have tried marijuana at some point in their life. This include 21% who are current users, meaning they have used marijuana within the past three months (up 5 points since 2017), and 29% who are lapsed users who haven’t used marijuana in four or more months.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between July 3rd to July 6th, 2018, on behalf of CAA South Central Ontario. For this survey, a sample of 1,000 Ontarians aged 19+ with a valid driver’s license (G1, G2 or G) and who own, lease or drive a vehicle, was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the population of Ontario drivers according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ±3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Ontario drivers been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Sean Simpson
Vice President, Canada, Public Affairs
Ipsos
+1 416 324-2002
[email protected]

About Ipsos

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