Weeks after the celebration of the legalization of recreational use of marijuana, Angus Reid Institute asked Canadians about their concerns about this topic, with some major findings. Minimum age and how police can deal with accidents are on the top of the list.
Previously, we have explained how marijuana can help ADHD patients or to deal with anxiety, however there are still people worried about how marijuana affects human body and how it could damage young people. If you’re new to cannabis, this post is for you.
Current situation
In Canada, most provinces and territories have opted to align their minimum age for weed with the one set for alcohol. The exception is Manitoba, where 18-year-olds can legally get some alcohol but have to wait until they’re 19 to smoke weed.
This age range has a reason; according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the government’s choice of a legal age is aimed at gutting the black market.
“If we eliminate the segment of the population between 18 to 19 and 21 years, which is a population often in university, often in areas where they’ll try to consume, we’re keeping an important segment of potential consumers for the black market” explained last month.
The new regulations remove personal storage limits for patients. Like any adult Canadian, they can store as much cannabis as they want at home.
Public possession limits remain the same for authorized patients who are registered with a federally licensed seller or with Health Canada: The lesser of 150 grams or a 30-day supply of dried cannabis (or the equivalent in cannabis product) in addition to the 30 grams allowed for non-medical purposes.
Poll
A poll leaded by Angus Reid Institute past October it’s been discussed recently due their significatives results.
This national, not-for-profit public opinion research foundation asked to 1500 canadians between Oct. 24th to Oct. 29th their opinions about upcoming legalization of recreational use of marijuana.
This poll found that three-quarters of participants think the minimum age to buy weed should be raised.
- Half of respondents (51%) say the minimum age should be 20 or under, while nearly half (49%) say the age should be 21 or higher.
- In B.C., where the legal age limit to costume cannabis is 19, the poll shows 36% of respondents agree that 19 is the right age, while 24% think it should be 21. 4% of British Columbians think it should be higher than 21.
Political affiliation?
According to Angus Reid Institute the issue was also associated with political affiliation.
“If you are older and voted for Conservatives, you’re more likely to say that it should be a higher age,” explained Shachi Kurl, the Institute’s executive director.
In fact, one-quarter from this group preferred the age to be 25 or older, the report found.
For this topic, the generation gap has the final word.
Other findings
- British Columbia is the only province where more residents say they are confident (48%) that their government is ready for legalization than not confident (40%).
- Six-in-ten Canadians (60%), and at least half across all ages and political affiliations, say they are not confident that their community police are ready to effectively manage these changes.
- More than half of Canadians (55%) say they are more worried about kids engaging in drinking, rather than smoking pot.
Previous polls
During 2017, while preparing the drafts for the legalization of recreational use of marijuana government developed a polls across the country and also go some interesting data:
- About 4.2 million or 14% of Canadians aged 15 years and older reported some use of cannabis products for medical or non-medical use in the past three months. More than half (56%) of the users indicated that they used some form of cannabis “daily” or “weekly.”
- Canadians were asked if they thought they would change their behavior once cannabis is legalized for non-medical use. Regardless of use, over three-quarters (79%) said that they would not be more likely to try or to increase their cannabis consumption.
- During 2017, Canadians spent an estimated C$5.7 billion (US$4.63 billion). The average cannabis user spent about C$1,200 on weed, mostly on non-medical marijuana.
You can check out all the results of the poll developed by Angus Reid Institute here.
What do you think about the minimum age for weed? Is it time for a change? Comment bellow!
