“If you feel different, you drive different. Drive high, get a DUI.”

That’s the theme of an effort by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to help local law enforcement be highly visible from now through Labor Day, as they crack down on those taking the risk to drive impaired.

Even in states such as Ohio where adult-use cannabis is legal for recreational use, it is still illegal to drive under the influence. It doesn’t matter what substance is to blame.

But, according to West Virginia’s Governor’s Highway Safety Program, many drivers do not believe getting high affects their abilities in the same way as alcohol.

“The bottom line is that no matter what the substance is, if a driver is impaired, they should not be driving,” said Jack McNeely, director of the office. “We want everyone to enjoy the last weeks of summer and the Labor Day holiday. We also want everyone to understand that it’s our first priority to keep people safe. Violating West Virginia’s drug-impaired driving laws can have severe and lasting consequences, both financially and potentially posing a risk to life.”

As NHTSA notes, it is illegal everywhere to drive under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, opioids, methamphetamines or any potentially impairing prescription drug.

“Driving while impaired by any substance — legal or illegal — puts you and others in harm’s way,” the agency says.

The statistics around impaired driving are sobering. The National Safety Council estimates that 457 people died on roads across the United States during the 2024 Labor Day holiday period.

Officials with the Ohio State Highway Patrol report there were 378 arrests for impaired driving during that period. Six of the 15 fatal crashes involved impaired drivers, and there were 50 arrests for drug-related offenses.

Numbers from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, meanwhile, show there were 1,002 crashes across the commonwealth, and they resulted in 13 fatalities. Of those crashes, 106 were alcohol-related, and they resulted in four deaths. PennDOT said that an additional 27 crashes were drug-related, and they resulted in three deaths.

Don’t take the risk. Whether it is the potential fine and legal trouble that puts you off or the possibility that you could endanger (or kill) yourself or someone else, it’s just not worth it.

Choose a sober driver. Better yet, be that sober driver; or help someone find a ride.

Bottom line — don’t drive drunk; don’t drive high.