In 2015, MADD expanded its mission to include fighting drug-impaired driving, reflecting our commitment and long history of serving victims and survivors of both drunk and drugged driving. With this commitment, MADD created a Drugged Driving Task Force with key law enforcement, traffic safety and research experts to study the potential effects of marijuana legalization, the national opioid crisis and the prevalence of prescription drugs could have on impaired driving.
What we learned:
- Proven tools to combat drunk driving, such as high-visibility law enforcement, will detect and stop drugged driving too.
- More research, more data and better testing are needed to fully understand the impact of marijuana legalization and other drugs on traffic safety and the under 21 population.
- Alcohol is a drug that took years of research to understand and establish methods for measuring its impairing effects. The same cannot be said for measuring impairment caused by other drugs, but that doesn’t diminish the seriousness of drug-impaired driving.
MADD serves drunk and drugged driving victims and survivors every day. We want them to know that we are working hard to stop these senseless and 100 percent preventable crimes.
A critical step in this battle is understanding Americans’ attitudes and awareness toward marijuana, laws regulating its use and the risks of consuming and driving. In February 2020, MADD commissioned IPSOS, a global leader in market research, to conduct a nationwide study of adults 18 and older. These findings will guide us toward solutions that will honor those we could not save and lead us to a nation of NO MORE VICTIMS ®
MADD Cannabis Report: America’s Perception on Consumption and Road Risk