RMV unveils driving while high instruction, aided by Keefe students
WORCESTER — A video curriculum intended to educate teenagers on the risks of driving under the influence of cannabis was designed to resonate with a generation who may be seeing harmful messaging on social media.
On Friday, the state Registry of Motor Vehicles announced the curriculum at the Worcester RMV on 50 Southwest Cutoff.
The 25-minute video, "Shifting Gears: The Blunt Truth about Marijuana and Driving," will be required driving instruction starting in January.
Massachusetts will be the first recreational-use cannabis state in the nation to implement a curriculum to educate teens on cannabis-impaired driving.
The curriculum was created with the assistance of the Cannabis Control Commission and AAA Northeast, and will be an update to the state's current driver education module.
The video will include research-based information on cannabis and an explanation of how tetrahydrocannabinol, the active chemical in marijuana, affects cognition, vision, reaction time and perception of time and distance.
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said the curriculum is overdue after recreational-use cannabis was put into state law in 2017.
"This whole process of licensing individuals is all about public safety," Polito said. "It's all about the safety of the licensee, the driver, it's the safety of your passengers and for the safety of others traveling on the roads of our commonwealth."
Keefe Tech students lend hand
The curriculum was informed by the involvement of the Legal and Protective Services class at Keefe Regional Technical School in Framingham. Polito said that working with the students helps to make the curriculum more readily received by teenagers getting their first driver's licenses.
Kimberly Roy, a CCC commissioner, said she heard about the lack of cannabis-impaired driving curriculum nationwide when she was appointed to the commission last year.
When Roy was sworn into the role in the Statehouse by Gov. Charlie Baker, she told Baker about the lack of a curriculum and he advised her to work with Polito.
"With today's announcement, Massachusetts takes a lead in prevention and increasing awareness around cannabis safety and driving by providing every driver's education student with a comprehensive, evidence-based, informative curriculum to help them understand the risks and make safe decisions," Roy said.
Roy said that the Keefe Tech students' semester-long project was research that concluded that teenagers were exposed to social media posts and videos normalizing, and even glamorizing, impaired driving.
Mary Maguire, vice president of public and government affairs at AAA Northeast, said that teenagers are the most at-risk and inexperienced drivers and it is important to instill this curriculum to keep them safe.
Maguire said teenagers should always have a "plan B" to remove themselves from situations where they may be in a car with an impaired driver.
In 2021, Massachusetts saw the highest number of road deaths in 14 years and numbers for 2022 look even worse, Maguire said. Two years ago, 2020 saw the highest number of teen fatalities on the road in 12 years nationwide, she added.
"The time is now to act and this is part of our action plan," Maguire said.
Newton Police Chief John Carmichael said the curriculum is a foundation to show that Massachusetts is serious about cannabis-impaired driving and setting a standard for the rest of the nation.
Todd Frampton, criminal justice instructor at Keefe Tech, said the CCC approached him and his students last spring to do research on the perception of driving under the influence of cannabis.
"We're just glad to have been part of this project to put students in a position where they could make a difference," Frampton said.
The updated curriculum will be taught to about 50,000 young drivers per year in 700 Massachusetts driving school locations.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles unveils DUI cannabis curriculum in Worcester
