Pubdate: Fri, 02 Dec 2016
Source: Metro (Calgary, CN AB)
Copyright: 2016 Metro Canada
Contact:  http://www.metronews.ca/Calgary
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4471
Author: Helen Pike
Page: 12

ROLLING WITH WEED: POLL NDS ALBERTA SUPPORTS LEGALIZATION

Support for legal pot highest among millennials

Albertans are increasingly cool with the legalization of
kush.

A new ThinkHQ/Metro News survey has found that two-thirds of Albertans
- - 65 per cent - agree the drug should be legal, while only 20 per cent
admit that when it's legal, they will toke up.

That's an even higher rate of acceptance than a poll Insights West
published in 2014, where half of Albertans asked would like to see the
substance legalized.

"I think in the past couple of years you've had more exposure of
people to medical marijuana, and legalization in other jurisdictions,"
said Marc Henry, president of ThinkHQ.

"The fact that one in five say if it was legal they'd be likely to use
it suggests there's certainly a market for it."

The study found Calgarians are marginally less accepting (67 per cent)
of pot policy compared to Edmonton at 76 per cent. Henry said they
were able to connect that stat with people's latest provincial ballot
box votes, showing that Liberal and NDP voters are much more open to
legal marijuana, and Wildrose, and Progressive Conservatives aren't as
keen.

"Edmonton definitely, they're OK with it," said Henry. "The support
goes down with age, if you're a millennial, under 35, support for
legalization is almost 80 per cent."

Keith Fagin, an activist, said he's not surprised to see people
embracing the impending legal weed legislation. He's been working for
years to help people understand the facts behind cannabis consumption,
and he's especially encouraged to hear 89 per cent of Albertans accept
the medical use.

"We've changed a lot of minds," Fagin said. "A lot of doctors are
starting to come around; certainly the majority still aren't willing
to prescribe it, but it is coming along."

Finally, Albertans don't want the substance sold and traded
willy-nilly. And that's something Fagin agrees with. In his eyes, pot
should be sold in a licensed shop, where vendors have the expertise to
match consumers with specific strands.

The survey shows that this kind of sales environment is the most
acceptable, at 72 per cent - what Albertans don't want to see is
people growing marijuana to sell from home, or unlicensed businesses
popping up to sell pot.

The survey asked pot-related questions to 1,106 Albertans online,
weighted to reflect gender, age and region according to Statistics
Canada, with a margin of error plus or minus three per cent.
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MAP posted-by: Matt