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Public health
Original research
Drug driving: a secondary analysis of factors associated with driving under the influence of cannabis in Jamaica
  1. Kunal Lalwani1,
  2. Jacqueline Martin1,
  3. Everard Barton2,
  4. Gralyn Frazier3,
  5. Wendel Abel1
  1. 1Department of Community Health and Psychiatry, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica
  2. 2Department of Medicine, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica
  3. 3Department of Economics, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Kunal Lalwani; kunal_lalwani{at}rocketmail.com

Abstract

Objectives To determine cannabis use patterns, the predictive sociodemographic correlates of driving under the influence of cannabis (DUIC) and the association between risk perception and cannabis dependence among vehicle drivers in Jamaica.

Design Secondary data analysis.

Setting Used the Jamaica National Drug Prevalence Survey 2016 dataset.

Participants 1060 vehicle drivers extracted from the population sample of 4623.

Primary and secondary outcome measures Analysis used Pearson’s χ2 test and logistic regression. ORs and 95% CIs were recorded. A p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results More than 10% of Jamaican drivers admitted to DUIC in the past year. Approximately 43.3% of drivers who currently use cannabis reported DUIC only. Evidently, 86.8% of drivers who DUIC were heavy cannabis users. Approximately 30% of drivers with moderate to high-risk perception of smoking cannabis sometimes or often were dependent on cannabis. Notwithstanding, drivers with no to low-risk perception of smoking cannabis sometimes or often were significantly likelier to be dependent (p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively). Logistic regression highlighted male drivers (OR 4.14, 95% CI 1.59 to 14.20, p=0.009) that were 34 years and under (OR 2.97, 95% CI 1.71 to 5.29, p<0.001) and were the head of the household (OR 2.22, 95% CI 1.10 to 4.75, p=0.031) and operated a machine as part of their job (OR 1.87, 95% CI 1.09 to 3.24, p=0.023) were more likely to DUIC, while those who were married (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.74, p=0.004) and had achieved a tertiary-level education (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.76, p=0.031) were less likely.

Conclusions Two in five Jamaican drivers, who currently smoke cannabis, drive under its influence, with over 85% engaging in heavy use. Public health implications necessitate policy-makers consider mobile roadside drug testing and amending drug-driving laws to meet international standards.

  • Substance misuse
  • PUBLIC HEALTH
  • Health policy

Data availability statement

Data are available on reasonable request. The data that support the findings of this study are available from the National Council on Drug Abuse, Jamaica, and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) but restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under licence for the current study and are not publicly available. For access to the database, contact Mrs Uki Atkinson, research analyst, at uatkinson@ncda.org.jm

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-078437

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    Data availability statement

    Data are available on reasonable request. The data that support the findings of this study are available from the National Council on Drug Abuse, Jamaica, and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) but restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under licence for the current study and are not publicly available. For access to the database, contact Mrs Uki Atkinson, research analyst, at uatkinson@ncda.org.jm

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors KL contributed to the conception, design, drafting of the work; interpreted the data that was analysed; critically revised the work for important intellectual content; and approved of the final version to be published. JM contributed to the conception of the work; analysis and interpretation of data for the work; and approved the final version to be published. EB contributed to the analysis and interpretation of data for the work and approved the final version to be published. GF contributed to the analysis and interpretation of data for the work and approved the final version to be published. WA contributed to the conceptualising of the design of this paper, writing of first and subsequent drafts of the paper and critically revised the work for important intellectual content; and approved of the final version to be published. All authors read and approved the final manuscript and have agreed both to be personally accountable for the author’s own contributions and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work, even ones in which the author was not personally involved, are appropriately investigated, resolved and the resolution documented in the literature. KL is the guarantor.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.