Pubdate: Wed, 04 May 2016
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.torontosun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://torontosun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author: Ashley Csanady
Page: 46

SURVEY SAYS ONTARIANS DON'T WANT POT IN LCBO

Most Ontario voters believe marijuana should be legal and that it
should be sold by independent dispensaries or drug stores, not in the
LCBO.

That's according to a new Forum Research survey conducted on April 28,
just over a week after the federal government announced its blueprint
for legalization would land in spring 2017. Almost six in 10 - 56 per
cent - of the 1,157 respondents said they approved of marijuana
legalization, compared to about one third, or 36 per cent, who opposed
it; approximately seven per cent had no opinion.

Support hasn't budged since December, when Forum last asked about
legal weed: at that time, 56 per cent were in favour, and 36 per cent
were opposed.

The number of people who would use legal weed is also much the same:
23 per cent in the April survey, versus 22 in December.

What has shifted is the location where people think the drug should be
sold. Fewer respondents now feel the provincial booze retailer is the
best home for dime bags.

 From the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union (OPSEU), which
represents LCBO employees, to Premier Kathleen Wynne, many have mused
that the liquor retailer would be the best home for pot sales. It
already has a secure distribution network across the province and
systems to prevent underage sales.

However, the budding marijuana dispensary industry, which is cropping
up in major cities across the country despite the fact pot is still
illegal, believes small business should have a role. Major drug store
chains have also started pushing for a chunk of the retail market. A
majority of those surveyed - 52 per cent - favour dispensary sales,
compared to 38 per cent who want to see weed alongside their beer in
the LCBO. That's down from the 44 per cent who favoured liquor-store
sales in December, and the 57 per cent who at the time preferred
independent dispensaries.

Half - 51 per cent - of respondents also approved of possible
drug-store sales, a question polled for the first time in April.
What's interesting is how the questions were phrased, not as "pick
one" propositions, but to determine whether the respondent approved or
disapproved of the retail option, suggesting there could be more than
one channel.
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MAP posted-by: Matt