Driving under the influence of cannabis is on the rise, and cannabis users increasingly believe there are limited risks associated with their behavior. Research demonstrates overwhelmingly that cannabis can interfere with driving-related skills. This information, along with information on legal risks, enforcement activities, and even societal perceptions, can be carefully and tactfully applied to create risk messaging designed to persuade cannabis users not to drive under the influence.
Our proposed research is a multistage process to address this goal. Focus groups that include a diverse body of cannabis users will be conducted to identify what types of risk and risk themes resonate with them most, and we will identify whether there are differences among subgroups (e.g., older adults, medical cannabis users). Then, informed by the focus groups, we will develop risk messages and use a separate sample of cannabis users to identify which messages are most impactful. Finally, we will adapt methods previously used by the team to test the efficacy of these messages to change hypothetical drugged-driving behavior in response to vignettes. At the end of the project, we will have described a process for generating effective messages to reduce cannabis-impaired driving.
