HAMPTON ROADS, Va. - With the infamous holiday known as “4/20” upon us, AAA reminds drivers of what cannabis can do to you when you’re behind the wheel.
“The bottom line is if you feel different – you drive different.” said Holly Dalby, AAA Tidewater director of public affairs.
According to AAA, consuming cannabis affects you in the following ways:
- Difficulty maintaining attention.
- Slower reaction times.
- Harder to stay in traffic lane.
- Harder to judge distances.
- Slower decision-making.
- Reduced peripheral/side vision.
- Reduced coordination.
AAA offers an online interactive course to teach others about the impact that cannabis can have on your driving skills. The course covers; how cannabis can impair our ability to drive safely; the impact of cannabis use behind the wheel, on the brain, and in the body; making safe decisions to protect all roadway users; and ways law enforcement can detect impairment.
You can find the course here.
There will be a free cannabis educational summit, The “High Tide Summit,” being held on April 20, 2022 in Portsmouth that will feature some of the biggest names in cannabis education nationally and locally.
Related: Cannabis education summit coming to Portsmouth on 4/20
New cannabis laws went into effect in Virginia on July 1, 2021.
Below is a chart using information from Virginia’s Cannabis Program that summarizes what is, and isn’t, legal regarding cannabis after the new laws went into effect:
Legal | Illegal |
· Adults 21 years and older may possess up to one ounce of cannabis for personal use. · Generally, adults 21 years and older may use cannabis in private residences. However, the owner of a private residence can restrict use on its premises. · Adults 21 and over may grow up to four plants per household (not per person), according to specified requirements. · “Adult sharing” or transferring one ounce or less of marijuana between persons 21 years or older without remuneration is legal. | · It remains illegal for anyone to possess more than one ounce of cannabis. · It remains illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to consume, purchase, or possess cannabis, or attempt to consume, purchase or possess any amount of cannabis. · It remains illegal to distribute or sell cannabis, and/or to possess any amount of cannabis with the intent to distribute or sell it. This prohibition applies equally to businesses, which cannot sell, “gift,” or in any other way distribute cannabis. · Existing safety measures remain in place, including prohibiting use of cannabis while driving a motor vehicle or while being a passenger in a motor vehicle. |
