A new campaign to deter driving while high was launched Tuesday morning.
It comes on the heels of the latest enforcement by Washington State Patrol.
Troopers say driving while high on Washington roads and highways is on the rise since marijuana was legalized in the state.
The NHTSA said researchers looked at weekends over a six-year period and found a 48 percent increase in people driving after using drugs.
The ad campaign by the Ad council and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched with a simple slogan, “If you feel different, you drive different.”
Legalizing recreational use of marijuana in Colorado, Washington and Oregon has not been good for highway safety,” said Matt Moore with the Highway Loss Data Institute.
Recently, the State Patrol said during its enforcement on April 20, or 420, the unofficial holiday to celebrate cannabis use, the agency said they had drug experts able to examine drivers to determine if they were indeed driving under the influence.
The ad campaign now launches alongside such efforts to curb drug use and driving.