Monday is April 20, and you know what that means, right?
Well, not all of you do. But enough do that the Colorado Department of Transportation is taking measures to make sure people don’t get out of hand.
CDOT will roll out its “Drive High, Get a DUI” campaign for a second year to coincide with April 20 (4/20), which for marijuana aficionados is a classic day to celebrate with a toke or two. Smoking marijuana in Colorado is legal now, of course, but that doesn’t mean it’s legal to smoke and drive.
Officials are worried that a plethora of marijuana events scheduled for Saturday through Monday will lead to a lot of driving under the influence, just as Saturday nights at the bar and Sunday afternoon NFL games do for drinking under the influence.
As part of the campaign, Durango marijuana retailer Sante Alternative Wellness is one of eight places, and the only one on the Western Slope, to install a CDOT-inspired arcade game.
The game “appears to be a classic racing game,” CDOT said in a news release, but during play a CDOT public-service message reminds the player that driving high is illegal. At that point, “players are offered alternative games to play.”
CDOT has several events planned during the weekend, a couple of events in conjunction with the Cannabis Cup on Saturday through Monday in Denver. The event has drawn an estimated 40,000 marijuana enthusiasts.
“With the legalization of marijuana in Colorado, we have a responsibility to pioneer marijuana-education campaigns to keep our roadways safe,” Sam Cole, CDOT’s communication manager, said in a news release. “For 2015, we have some unique and eye-catching ways to grab marijuana users’ attention, and hopefully reinforce safe marijuana consumption and laws in the process.”
CDOT launched the “Drive High, Get a DUI” campaign last year, airing TV commercials to remind Coloradans that while they now can do plenty of things legally while high, driving isn’t one of them. CDOT again is airing the commercials throughout April, as well as distributing informational prescription pads and window clings to dispensaries statewide to show their support for the campaign.
For more information on marijuana-impaired driving, visit www.DriveHighDUI.com.
johnp@ durangoherald.com
