OFF THE WIRE
By: ctvbc.ca
More than half of British Columbians support the legalization of marijuana, but the prairie provinces are even more pot-friendly, according to a new poll.
In the latest Angus Reid Public Opinion poll on drugs, 50 per cent of Canadians said they want to see marijuana legalized, while 44 per cent oppose decriminalization.
People in Manitoba and Saskatchewan were most likely to want legal pot, with 61 per cent of those polled expressing their support. Fifty-four per cent of British Columbians surveyed said they want to see marijuana legalized.
Albertans were the least likely to support legalizing pot, with only 45 per cent in support.
Only 33 per cent of Canadians said they want to toss the decriminalization legislation introduced by the previous Liberal government. But the majority said they support the federal government's proposal for a national anti-drug strategy and mandatory minimum jail sentences for grow operators and drug dealers.
Despite the strong support countrywide for legal marijuana, about 90 per cent of Canadians opposed legalizing harder drugs like ecstasy, heroin and cocaine.
Still, about half of respondents said they disagreed with the Conservative government's efforts to end harm reduction programs like supervised injection sites and needle-exchange programs.
People in B.C. were much more likely than most Canadians to say that the country has a serious drug abuse problem affecting the entire country, with 46 per cent agreeing compared to a national average of 37 per cent.
The results of the latest poll are consistent with similar surveys conducted in April of this year and in May 2008.
The latest survey was conducted online and polled 1,000 randomly selected people. The margin of error is 3.1 per cent.
What do you think? Should marijuana be legal?
