Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) officials have released findings from The Cannabis Conversation, a two-year, statewide initiative they said was designed to spur marijuana-impaired driving dialogue.
CDOT officials said while the agency has worked to eliminate marijuana-impaired driving since recreational legalization in 2014, Colorado has continued to experience cannabis-involved traffic crashes and fatalities. In 2018, 13.5 percent of drivers involved in fatal crashes tested positive for cannabis.
“We talked online and in-person to thousands of marijuana users across Colorado,” said Sam Cole, CDOT traffic safety communications manager, said. “We learned how different groups of people respond to different types of messages — and will use that knowledge to try to influence people to make smart choices. After all, there is no ‘typical’ marijuana consumer.”
CDOT accessed more than 18,000 Coloradans through surveys, public meetings, and focus groups to learn how to best cater to messaging, outreach, and education based on consumers’ perspectives.
Takeaways, per CDOT, include those who consumed cannabis more often considered driving under the influence of marijuana to be less dangerous; many cannabis users are highly skeptical of laws, policies and enforcement regarding driving impaired — and seek credible, nuanced information; and the key to reaching some skeptics is to lead with feelings and follow with facts.
The insight garnered via The Cannabis Conversation is being applied to CDOT campaigns in which PSAs are based on concepts chosen by the public.