Operation Red Nose will be kicking off their annual holiday campaign this weekend, giving people a safe alternative to driving under the influence.
This is their first season dealing with legal cannabis, but Jason Moser the Co-Chair of Operation Red Nose Regina says that this year will still be business as usual.
“Operation Red Nose, It’s fairly non-discriminant. We don’t ask why someone isn’t able to drive,” said Moser. “For whatever reason if they feel impaired whether that's alcohol, drugs or anything else.”
The Regina Police Service has not seen an increase in impaired driving cases since the legalization of marijuana. From October 26, 2017 to November 26, 2017 there were 31 cases of impaired driving. In that same time period in 2018 there were 27.
But as holiday party season gets going the Regina Police will still be increasing their enforcement of impaired driving.
“There are maybe more opportunities for them to make that wrong choice and drive impaired and obviously we're going to have resources out there that are dedicated to looking for impaired drivers. And we will probably step that up a bit during the holiday season,” said Elizabeth Popowich of the Regina Police Service.
Whether it is programs like Operation Red Nose or a strong police presence throughout December, Tyler McMurchy from SGI says that awareness is key.
"Last year in December the number of impaired driving offenses was not actually high when it comes to what we would expect. I think people are aware that during the holiday season there is strong enforcement, there's a lot of police check stops. That it is the focus of police,” said McMurchy
Both the Regina Police Service and Operation Red Nose are taking a wait and see approach to this holiday season, to see if impaired driving statistics increase before making any changes to their services.
