Pubdate: Sun, 21 Jan 2018 Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2018 Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: http://www.torontosun.com/letter-to-editor Website: http://torontosun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457 Author: Liz Braun Page: 3 CANNABIS EDIBLES GET HIGHER APPROVAL RATE Better dust off that recipe for hash brownies. A new poll says more people are expressing approval of cannabis edibles. The Forum Poll interviewed 1,022 voters in Ontario and found that more than half approve of the sale of baked goods, drinks and other food items that contain marijuana. In the two years since the last survey, that approval number has moved up six points (from 46% to 52%); likewise, the numbers of those who disapprove of the sale of such items has gone down from 43% to 37%. In broad terms, that means the 'yea' and 'nay' factions were about equal as recently as 2015, but the new poll shows that balance tipping toward a general thumbs up for the sale of food containing dope. About one person in 10 doesn't know (or perhaps doesn't care) about this matter, and that figure hasn't really changed over time. So who's in favour and who's against? Not surprisingly, the poll found that those most likely to support the sale of marijuana edibles are young, relatively rich and mostly educated. Support came from those 34 or younger (72%), earning $80,000 to $100,000 annually (63%); in the pro group, 52% had college/ university or post-grad degrees. Politically, 66% of those who support the sale of marijuana edibles say they support the NDP. Extrapolate at will. The biggest supporters overall of these edibles are people who already consume marijuana - fully 88% of them are in favour of such sales. Far out, man. Their older (65+), poorer, PC-voting brethren - the majority of whom live outside the big city - are the people most likely to disapprove of marijuana edibles. Despite the higher approval numbers for the sale of cannabis edibles, most people voted for privacy when asked just where those edibles should be consumed. One-third (34%) of those polled felt that cannabis edibles should only be consumed in private. Some people (18%) thought designated public areas were okay - sort of like breastfeeding in the women's bathroom is okay, maybe? - while 16% thought licensed lounges were a good idea. About 14% said they didn't know what the best place would be. A small number of people (13%) thought marijuana edibles would be okay to consume in public. Even fewer (5%) liked the idea of a confined area at festivals or other events. Among people who already consume marijuana, 30% thought anywhere at all would be okay for consumption, and 25% wanted designated public locations. How about licensed lounges, then? "No!" said nearly half of the people asked (45%). But about 38% said they'd approve of licensed lounges where cannabis edibles could be consumed legally. Here's the most important stat: of those polled, only 23% had consumed marijuana in the last year. And 77% said they had not consumed marijuana over the last year. Respondents most likely to say they have consumed in the past year were again a younger group - 34 and younger (41%) - but they were the least wealthy (30%), with some college or university (30%), supporting the NDP (40%) and living in Toronto (27%). - --- MAP posted-by: Matt