Recreational marijuana sales in New Jersey: AAA working with SADD to educate young people on risks of impaired driving
TRENTON, N.J. -- As recreational sales of marijuana are set to start Thursday in New Jersey, some are calling for more education for teens on the effects of the drug, especially when it comes to driving.
Cannabis is legal for those 21 and older, but some fear with more access to the drug, it could wind up in the hands of more teens.
AAA has partnered with SADD -- Students Against Destructive Driving -- to educate young people on the risks of impaired driving, CBS2's Meg Baker reported Wednesday.
"There's no difference between the under the influence of marijuana driving and under the influence of drunk driving. We need to understand that both are just as dangerous," SADD's Lauren Zimmerman-Meade said.
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The program, available to the public and used by some school districts, is called Shifting Gears: The Blunt Truth About Marijuana and Driving. AAA's Robert Sinclair says young people already have very bad driving records.
"They lack the skills and experience to be good drivers, so we worry this, particularly with teen drivers possibly having access to marijuana and smoking it and then getting behind the wheel, that it would create a very dangerous situation," Sinclair said.
Anti-drug advocates say younger people may be attracted to try gummies and other candy edibles. The course explores the impact on their developing teen brains, and gives students an experience of cognitive impairment through simulation goggles.
"Their growing brains and their body development depends on everything working properly and adding substances like marijuana decreases the ability for the body to create those synapses connecting properly," Zimmerman-Meade said.
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AAA traffic safety studies show that just a two-second distraction can lead to deadly consequences.
"You consider going 60 mph you're covering 88 feet per second. A lot can happen in that time if you're distracted or impaired by marijuana," Sinclair said.
"Sometimes there's a lot of peer pressure and societal pressure around them about using and particularly when a state legalizes, so we want to make sure that our students are well equipped to be able to say no, and to give a really good reason as to why they don't want to engage in this behavior, particularly when it comes to driving under the influence," Zimmerman-Meade said.
Shifting Gears also lays out why using and driving is a crime for anyone and how police use special drug detection officers to determine if someone is high. Safety advocates say setting a good example starts at home with the adults in teenagers' lives.
The Shifting Gears program takes 90 minutes. Schools are encouraged to create a peer lead conversation. AAA says after 60,000 students participated a survey showed a difference mindset. They said they would be less likely to use.