On the same morning the Quebec government rolled out a series of ads aimed at curbing smoking and driving, the B.C.-based marijuana activist known as the 'Prince of Pot' is suggesting that driving while buzzed isn't a big deal.
"The proof of competence is performance," Marc Emery told CJAD 800's Leslie Roberts on Tuesday morning. "If you're driving well, and there's no reason to pull you over, and there's no reason to stop you, then you should be allowed to go on your way. And that would be be true in all circumstances, in my feeling."
Emery, 59, says he hasn't had a problem with driving stoned in his 38 years as a motorist, and doesn't appear to think much of the studies which suggest that pot can adversely affect your driving, and slow your reaction times — in fact, he suggests smoking up might even be beneficial.
"Marijuana does make you more self-aware. Why you think it impairs you, I don't know," he says. "We drive slower. We obey the speed limit. We are cognizant of our passenger. We don't road rage; we get there when we get there. We're not in any rush. Marijuana people are vastly safer drivers and we should encourage everybody to be affected by marijuana in all their daily lives."
He also suggests stopping drivers for buzzed driving could be another way for police to get at potheads once the drug becomes legal in July 2018.
Emery, along with his wife Jodie, co-own Cannabis Culture, a chain of pot stores active across the country. The couple came to Montreal in December to open a handful of the stores as pot dispensaries, but Montreal police raided them a day later, arresting Emery at one of the stores.