Drinking and Driving |
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| Abstract: | Alcohol misuse generates many health and social problems at a cost that society is increasingly unwilling to sustain. One of the most tragic consequences of alcohol misuse is the result of drinking and driving. Each week, impaired drivers kill 40 Canadian men, women and children and injure 1250 others. The Canadian Medical Association (CMA), in its campaign against drinking and driving, has recommended that a condition of obtaining or renewing a driver's licence include the individual's written consent to allow the taking of blood samples by qualified medical personnel when deemed necessary by law enforcement agencies. CMA has recommended to the provinces that the legal age for the purchase and public possession of alcohol be raised to 21. CMA also supports the ban of all alcohol advertising in the electronic media and emphasizes that since alcohol is a drug, all containers should be visibly labelled “Misuse of this Product can be Injurious to Health”. CMA continues to support and encourage the federal and provincial governments in their battle to prevent alcohol-related deaths and injuries through education, control of advertising, use of breathalyzer devices, mandatory blood alcohol testing and legislation enacting stiffer penalties for drinking and driving. |
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