By now, it should be no surprise that Colorado has been the first state to legalize recreational marijuana. To keep stoned drivers from hitting the streets, the Colorado Department of Transportation has launched its “Drive High, Get a DUI” campaign which features three television ads.
According to the Department of Transportation release, the ads targets males ages 21-34, the demographic that tends to have the highest number of DUIs.
One of the rather humorous ads shows a man attempting to install his television to the wall. Seconds later, the television falls off the wall. The ad text then reads, “Installing your TV while high is now legal. Driving to get a new one isn’t.”
Another of the ads show a man repeatedly attempting to light his gas barbeque only to realize that there’s no propane tank hooked up to the barbeque. The ad text reads, “Grilling high is now legal. Driving to get the propane you forgot isn’t” as the man’s significant other looks on in embarrassment.
The last of the ads shows a man taking an extremely long time to shoot a free throw. While his friends look on, the ad text reads, “Playing ball high is now legal. Driving to see the pros play afterwards isn’t.”
The ads can be found here.
Without discussing the details of how exactly marijuana use can affect driving (there are plenty of previous posts which discuss that), the ads serve as a reminder that it is still illegal to drive with marijuana in the system.
“Before beginning the campaign, we did extensive research about medical and recreational marijuana users’ perceptions of marijuana’s effects on driving,” said spokeswoman Amy Ford. “We heard repeatedly that people thought marijuana didn’t impact their driving ability, and some believed it actually made them a better driver,” she added.
Colorado law presumes that a person is impaired with 5 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood in the system. However, a suspected high driver can rebut the charge that they were impaired and be found not-guilty by a jury notwithstanding the test result.
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