Smoke pot with Dad? Most Canadians say no

Looking for something to get your dad this Father’s Day? How about high?

With legalization around the corner, soon you’ll be able to say goodbye to the standard Father’s Day gifts — socks with Looney Tunes characters on them, a coffee mug that suggests he’s won a regional fatherhood competition — and get him something to help him relax for the first time since you were born: a prerolled joint, say, or perhaps one of those fancy new USB vaporizers, since you know how much dads loves gadgets.

But would you get high with your dad? Most Canadians say they would not. According to a new survey from cannabis technology company Lift and Co., just 14 per cent of Canadians said they would get high with their dads once the law permits it.

Men were slightly more amenable to the idea than women, with 17 per cent of men saying they would be willing to partake with dad, compared to just 12 per cent of women. But among the 1,547 randomly selected adults posed that question between June 6 and 7 of this year, most bristled at the idea.

British Columbians were among the most hesitant to blaze with dad. Just 14 per cent said they would, compared to 18 per cent of Albertans and Ontarians, and a whopping 25 per cent of Saskatchewan respondents.

It’s a surprisingly low number for one of Canada’s most weed-friendly provinces, although perhaps many B.C. respondents have already got high with their dads and discovered how truly, horrifically awkward it can be.

Strangely, a similar survey commissioned for Mother’s Day found that slightly more British Columbians, 18 per cent, would get high with their moms instead.

Among demographics, millennials are the gutsiest, with nearly a quarter of 18-34 yearolds at 24 per cent saying they would get high with their fathers. Just 14 per cent of respondents between 34-54, or Gen-Xers, said they would do the same. And among 55+ boomers, it was six per cent.

It’s worth noting, of course, that this survey polled many who don’t use cannabis at all, either recreationally or medicinally. When you adjust for medical cannabis users — i.e., people who have smoked marijuana before — the number of people willing to burn one down with dad rises sharply, to 60 per cent.

In short, according to the data, if you think smoking weed with your old man this Father’s Day is a good idea, you must be high.