Key Messages
Passenger in a Vehicle Driven by Someone Using Drugs
Passenger in a Vehicle Driven by Someone Drinking Alcohol
Drove a Vehicle after Using Cannabis
Drove a Vehicle after Drinking Alcohol
Perceived Risk of Driving after Using Cannabis Compared with Alcohol
Technical Notes
Key Messages
- In 2019, one-in-ten Simcoe Muskoka students in grades 7 to 12 reported riding in a vehicle driven by someone that had been using drugs. This was significantly lower than what was reported in 2015.
- Approximately one-in-ten Simcoe Muskoka high school students with a class G driver’s license reported driving a vehicle after using cannabis.
- Riding as a passenger in a vehicle with someone that had been using drugs decreased significantly among Simcoe Muskoka students in 2019 when compared to 2015; however, driving a vehicle after using cannabis remained the same over this period of time.
- More students reported riding as a passenger in vehicle with someone that had been drinking alcohol when compared with someone that had been using drugs.
- Approximately one-in-twenty student drivers reported driving after drinking alcohol, which was half the number of student drivers that reported driving after using cannabis.
- One-in-four high school students in Simcoe Muskoka agreed with the statement “it is safer to drive under the influence of cannabis than alcohol”.
- The provincial trends show significant improvement over the past decade in drug and alcohol impaired driving.
Passenger in a Vehicle Driven by Someone Using Drugs
- In 2019, one-in-ten Simcoe Muskoka students in grades 7 to 12 reported riding in a vehicle at least once in the past year with a driver that had been using drugs (other than alcohol). This was significantly lower than what was reported by Simcoe Muskoka students in the 2015 survey.
- Riding in a vehicle driven by someone that had been using drugs was significantly higher among Simcoe Muskoka students in grades 11 and 12 when compared with students in grades 9 and 10. Ninety-seven per cent of Simcoe Muskoka students in grades 7 and 8 reported never riding in a vehicle driven by someone that had been using drugs.
- More students with lower perceived socio-economic status and students with poorer self-rated mental health reported riding in a vehicle in the past year driven by someone that had been using drugs.
- The long-term provincial trend shows that riding as a passenger in a vehicle driven by someone using drugs declined significantly between 2003 and 2019. In 2019, 10% of Ontario students in grades 7 to 12 reported riding in a vehicle with a driver who had been using drugs, which was less than half of what was reported in 2003.
Provincial Trends
Passenger in a Vehicle Driven by Someone Drinking Alcohol
- In 2019, 14% (10.4%, 17.8%) Simcoe Muskoka students in grades 7 to 12 reported riding in a vehicle at least once in the past year with a driver that had been drinking alcohol. This was similar to what was reported by Simcoe Muskoka students in the 2015 survey.
- Riding in a vehicle driven by someone that had been drinking alcohol did not change significantly when comparing across students of different grade levels in Simcoe Muskoka. This is different from the pattern that was seen for riding in a vehicle with someone that had been using drugs.
- The long-term provincial trend shows that riding as a passenger in a vehicle driven by someone that had been drinking alcohol declined significantly from 2001 and 2015, but has remained relatively stable since then.
Provincial Trends
Drove a Vehicle after Using Cannabis
- In 2019, one-in-ten Simcoe Muskoka students with a G-Class driver’s license reported driving a vehicle after using cannabis in the past year. This was similar to what was reported by Simcoe Muskoka students in the 2015 survey.
- The provincial trend for driving after using cannabis among student drivers had been relatively stable between 2001 and 2009 before decreasing significantly afterwards. The 2019 estimate for driving after using cannabis among Ontario student drivers was less than half of what was reported a decade earlier.
Provincial Trends
Drove a Vehicle after Drinking Alcohol
- In 2019, approximately one-in-twenty Simcoe Muskoka students with a G-Class driver’s license reported driving a vehicle after drinking alcohol in the past year. This was similar to what was reported by Simcoe Muskoka students in the 2015 survey.
- The provincial trend for driving after drinking alcohol among student drivers had been relatively stable between 1999 and 2009 before decreasing significantly from 2009 to 2013. The per cent of Ontario student drivers that reported driving after drinking alcohol has remained between 4% and 5% since 2013.
Provincial Trends
Perceived Risk of Driving after Using Cannabis Compared with Alcohol
- In 2019, Simcoe Muskoka high school students were asked their level of agreement with the statement: “it is safer to drive under the influence of cannabis than alcohol”. One-in-four students agreed with the statement and one-third were not sure, with the remainder disagreeing.
- More male than female students agreed that driving under the influence of cannabis is safer than driving under the influence of alcohol.
Technical Notes
Information presented on this page is from the 2019 survey cycle of the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS), unless otherwise specified. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has been conducting the survey since 1977, making OSDUHS the longest ongoing school survey in Canada. Over 1,200 Simcoe Muskoka students in grades seven to twelve were surveyed as part of the 2019 OSDUHS.
The data presented in the text and charts above was analyzed by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) using the 2019 OSDUHS data conducted by CAMH and administered by the Institute for Social Research at York University in Toronto, Ontario. The contents above and interpretation are solely the responsibility of SMDHU and do not necessarily represent the official view of CAMH.
Further Reading
For more information about youth cannabis use:
Page Last Modified: July 8, 2020.