Updated at 10 a.m. Dec. 27
Massachusetts will be the first state in the nation where recreational marijuana use is legal to adopt a driver's education curriculum that specifically educates teens on the risks of cannabis-impaired driving.
The course, which is called “Shifting Gears: the Blunt Truth about Marijuana and Driving,” was developed by AAA Northeast in partnership with the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles and two members of the state's Cannabis Control Commission, Kimberly Roy and Bruce Stebbins, who participated in a personal capacity. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito publicly announced the course at Worcester’s RMV office on Friday.
Starting in January, AAA Northeast will update its current driver’s education course to include information on how THC, the chemical in marijuana that psychologically affects users, impacts cognition, vision, reaction time and perception of time and distance. The video warns drivers about potential safety hazards, like veering into other lanes, speeding and being unable to stop suddenly when under the influence of cannabis.
The percentage of car crash deaths that involve cannabis in the United States has doubled since 2000, according to research done at Boston University — from 9% in 2000 to nearly 22% in 2018.
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The cannabis-impaired driving curriculum will be taught to approximately 50,000 young drivers every year in all of Massachusetts’ 460 driving school locations.
The state's driver’s education course already references alcohol and drug use, but state officials said marijuana legalization has changed how people perceive the drug.
“Today’s young drivers in Massachusetts are the first generation to get behind the wheel since cannabis became legal in the state,” said Cannabis Control Commissioner Roy. “Considering that, it is critically important they also understand how THC can impact the body including the risks associated from cannabis impaired driving.”
“With today’s announcement,” Roy said, “Massachusetts takes the lead in prevention and increasing awareness around this issue by providing every driver’s education student a comprehensive, evidence-based cannabis-impaired driving information curriculum to help them understand those risks and make safe decisions.”
The curriculum is taught through a 25-minute video that is available on YouTube.
WATCH: Massachusetts’ new curriculum on cannabis impairment behind the wheel
Correction: This story was updated to clarify that two members of the state's Cannabis Control Commission participated in this curriculum in a personal capacity, and not on behalf of the commission.
