After 20 years in Sarnia-Lambton, the local MADD chapter is more concerned than ever about the number of impaired drivers.
Chapter President Charmaine Murray said by March 15 of this year, Sarnia-Lambton already had more impaired drivers than by the end of June of last year. Sarnia police also noticed the spike.
Murray said the local chapter has accomplished a lot over 20 years, but clearly they still have work to do.
"MADD Sarnia-Lambton started the white cross campaign, we've done a lot of education with the schools, different groups and businesses, but the sad part is that we're still needing to educate," she said. "Things should be better, but unfortunately we've seen an increase in impaired driving in 2019."
Murray said while the chapter can't explain what caused the spike, they're taking proactive steps to weed-out drunk and high drivers.
"The message isn't getting out and that's why we're trying to find new, innovative ways to educate. We just got some virtual reality goggles, which does both drug and alcohol. So we're hoping they will give people a better understanding of how marijuana affects their driving as well," she said. "I can't say how much the rise has to do with marijuana being legal now, but most of what I'm seeing in the stats show many impaired cases involve alcohol, marijuana or both."
MADD Canada was formed in 1989 and the Sarnia-Lambton chapter was established in 1999.
Victim's Weekend, an annual event held in Toronto for victims of impaired driving, is June 21-23.
