Pubdate: Thu, 02 Nov 2006
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2006 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact:  http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: CanWest News Service
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Marijuana - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

IT'S OK TO PUFF POT FOR HEALTH, SURVEY FINDS

ALTHOUGH Canadians are hardly trading maple leaves for pot leaves, 
newly published findings suggest Cheech and Chong would feel right at 
home here.

In a nationwide survey, an overwhelming 93 per cent of Canadians 
indicated they accept the idea of people legally smoking marijuana 
for health reasons. Nearly three in four (70 per cent) not only 
accept the practice but also personally approve of the behaviour.

Support for the overall legalization of marijuana is also strong, 
with almost half of Canucks giving it a hearty thumbs-up -- the same 
percentage of people who, in a 2004 Health Canada sponsored survey 
were found to have smoked cannabis in their lifetime.

Results of the study of 2,400 adults are published in the new book 
The Boomer Factor: What Canada's Most Famous Generation is Leaving 
Behind, authored by Alberta's University of Lethbridge sociologist 
Reginald Bibby.

In 1975, 26 per cent of Canadians supported the legalization of marijuana.

In 2005, 45 per cent supported such a change; 48 per cent of those 
aged 18 to 34, 48 per cent of those aged 35 to 54, and 38 per cent of 
those age 55 or older.

"Large numbers of Canadians -- rightly or wrongly -- do not believe 
its legalization would be detrimental to individuals or society, 
based in part on their personal experiences with pot," he says.

Regionally, support for the medical use of marijuana is fairly 
uniform. Quebec is most approving at 96 per cent, followed by British 
Columbia at 94 per cent, Ontario at 93 per cent, the Prairies at 92 
per cent, and Atlantic Canada at 90 per cent. National figures are 
considered accurate within three percentage points, 19 times out of 20. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake