Marijuana plans get wide support, poll shows

Most Albertans support the provincial government’s proposed regulations for legalized marijuana, according to a new Insights West poll.

Almost two-thirds of respondents to the online poll agree with the decision to prevent pot stores from selling alcohol, tobacco or pharmaceuticals, while 77 per cent favour setting 18 as the legal age for buying marijuana.

While 60 per cent of Albertans support legalization, up five percentage points since a national poll done in October 2016, the poll found a split along party lines.

The move is backed by 71 per cent of NDP voters in the 2015 provincial election, but opposed by almost 60 per cent of Wildrose and Conservative voters.

There’s also a difference in responses based on age. Legalization, scheduled to take effect July 1, is supported by 85 per cent of Albertans aged 18 to 34, but that approval drops to 54 per cent of people aged 34 to 54 and 45 per cent of people over 55. There’s little support for legalizing other street drugs such as ecstasy, heroin, cocaine, crystal meth and fentanyl, which is opposed by more than 85 per cent of respondents.

“To see the level of support for the policies the government put forward would certainly indicate the government has struck the right tone,” Mario Canseco, vicepresident of public affairs for B.C.based Insights West, said Monday.

“The level of support for legalization isn’t as high as it is here (70 per cent) … It has to do with the way British Columbians have been exposed to this. We have a lot of places that sell marijuana.”

The difference of opinion on legalization between New Democrat voters and people who backed more conservative parties could be important with a provincial election due by spring 2019, but the United Conservative Party might not want to jump on the issue yet, Canseco said.

“It will depend on the kind of framework we have and how it rolls out in the first couple of months … It’s too early for the United Conservatives to say, ‘We don’t like this.’ It would be wiser for them to wait.”

The results are based on a survey of 704 adult Albertans done between Nov. 28 and Dec. 2. The poll is considered accurate within 3.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.