A University of Saskatchewan professor says the government can help address a drinking and driving report released Monday that found roughly a quarter of young people in the province believe the act is OK in certain situations.
A Mainstreet Research poll found 24 per cent of respondents aged 18 to 34 believe driving under the influence is OK if done on a quiet road, over a short distance.
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University of Saskatchewan professor Peter Butt said he was “saddened” by the results.
“I thought it was terrible, just terrible,” said Butt, who is an associate professor in a position dedicated to addictions.
“In spite of all of the work that we’ve tried to do with regards to education of the public, it’s still embedded in the Saskatchewan culture.”
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Butt said he believes the government could “give us a provincial alcohol strategy” that would include warning labels on products and promote the national low-risk drinking guidelines.
“In Ontario for instance, they’ve distributed over a million pamphlets when they sell beverage alcohol, here very little direct social marketing is being done,” Butt said.
“I am not talking about prohibition; I am just talking about a more rational way of approaching alcohol.”
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Enforcing the law could also help change the provincial mindset, according to Saskatoon police Chief Clive Weighill. He said 262 impaired driving charges have been laid in the city so far this year, which is on pace with 2015.
“We put a lot of impetus on this, it’s an important function and I think if we weren’t enforcing it, we would start to see a slide backwards again,” Weighill said.
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And once a person has been charged with impaired driving, defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle said it’s uncommon for them to repeat the offence.
“The great majority of impaired driving clients that I represent would be first time offenders, many of them coming to the office remorseful, essentially commenting on it being a bad decision,” Pfefferle said.
“Unfortunately you end up having to have consequences personally it seems, before you actually will take notice.”
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