Correlates of driving under the influence of cannabis

BackgroundIdentifying cannabis users who are most at risk of driving under the influence of cannabis (DUIC) has important implications for drug treatment and prevention efforts. This paper examined correlates of DUIC among a purposive sample of recent cannabis users.MethodsInterviews were carried out among a cross-sectional sample of 320 Australian cannabis users. Past-year prevalence of DUIC (without using alcohol or other drugs) was regressed against a range of potential predictor variables.ResultsUse of multiple drugs, believing that DUIC does not increase accident risk and cannabis dependence all predicted likelihood of DUIC. There was an interaction between age of first cannabis use and gender, whereby earlier onset cannabis use predicted DUIC but only among women.ConclusionsThe correlates of drug driving reflected cannabis users’ beliefs about the dangers of cannabis use as well as their patterns of drug consumption. The emergence of cannabis dependence and age of onset as predictors of DUIC suggests a clearly defined role for treatment and prevention efforts in reducing the potential harms associated with DUIC.