Pubdate: Fri, 16 Apr 2010
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2010 Times Colonist
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/letters.html
Website: http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Jeff Lee, Canwest News Service

B.C. LEADS NATION IN SUPPORT FOR LEGALIZATION OF POT

Poll: 70 Per Cent Of Canadians Want Mandatory Sentences For Drug Dealers

Most Canadians believe they should be free to toke with impunity -- 
but their tolerance for marijuana use doesn't extend to other, harder 
drugs, according to a new national poll.

The Angus Reid poll, released yesterday, also shows many Canadians 
(42 per cent) believe Canada has a serious nationwide drug abuse 
problem and 70 per cent want mandatory minimum prison sentences and 
fines for drug dealers and marijuana grow operators.

"As was the case two years ago, a majority of Canadians (53 per cent) 
support the legalization of marijuana," said an Angus Reid media release.

Three provinces saw the highest levels of support for legalization: 
British Columbia (61 per cent), Alberta (59 per cent) and Ontario (57 
per cent).

The online survey of 1,010 Canadians between April 8-9 showed that 
support for legalization of hard drugs "is negligible" -- less than 
one in 10 voiced support for legalizing hard drugs. The margin of 
error for the survey is plus or minus 3.1 per cent.

The poll shows 83 per cent of Canadians support the federal 
government's National Anti-Drug Strategy awareness campaign to 
discourage young Canadians from using drugs.

But only slightly more than a third of Canadians support the idea of 
eliminating harm-reduction programs such as supervised injection 
sites and needle-exchange programs.

In B.C., where the federal government waged a fight to close 
Vancouver's Insite supervised injection site, 64 per cent of 
respondents said such programs should continue.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart