The campaign and its resources
You'll never hear pilots announce to their passengers that
they're smoking a joint before takeoff so they can relax and
enjoy the flight. But if these pilots were drivers and they
were in a car, would the situation be different?
On November 21, 2005, the Canadian Public Health Association,
with funding from Canada's Drug Strategy, Health Canada, launched
the Pot and Driving campaign to raise awareness among young
Canadian drivers, 14-18 years-of-age, and their passengers
of the risks of cannabis-impaired driving. This national campaign
was developed through an extensive review of current evidence
and input from both professionals and Canadian youth.
Why the Pilots?
Arnold Worldwide Canada (www.arnoldworldwide.com)
developed the pot-smoking pilots concept, one of four concepts
tested in focus groups involving young Canadians in British
Columbia, Manitoba, and Quebec. Reactions of participants in
all groups to the pot-smoking pilots were immediate and thoughtful: "Pilots
are professionals; they wouldn't do that sort of thing" and "The
pilot is the one who has to deal with potential problems and
disturbances; he's the one with your life in his hands." The
safety of passengers was an expressed concern, with comments
such as, "Because they're smoking up, there can be very
serious consequences because there are a lot of passengers" and "If
you were a passenger you wouldn't want to know that your pilots
were rolling a joint."
Getting Involved
So how do you become involved in this campaign? Quite simply
by starting the discussion about pot and driving. We've provided
the pot-smoking pilots poster to raise interest, the 10 Questions
to start the discussion, the youth-oriented responses to those
questions, and the research to back it all up.
Resources
We hope you will download and use these Pot and Driving resources:
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