Canadians still split on legalization, poll finds

Cannabis may now be legal for recreational use in Canada, but that doesn’t mean Canadians have warmed up to the idea, according to a poll conducted by Forum Research and released Wednesday.

The poll found that just half of Canadians — or 52 per cent — approve of legalized marijuana, roughly the same proportion that were in support of legalized cannabis in June 2016, before the Trudeau government had even drawn its legislation.

Forty-one per cent of Canadians said they disapproved of legalization altogether.

Canadians also seemed to be relatively conservative about the drug itself, with just 34 per cent saying they felt “positive” about it, and only 10 per cent saying they would perhaps reconsider their negative perception of cannabis post-legalization.

Canadians who approved of legalization were largely young, wealthy, or from British Columbia and Atlantic Canada.

For instance, 74 per cent of people below age 34 were in firm approval of legalization, while 65 per cent of the wealthiest Canadians, and more than 60 per cent of Canadians in British Columbia and Atlantic Canada supported the end of prohibition.

Among Canadians who have not tried cannabis at all (53 per cent), just 11 per cent say that legalization will make them more likely to dabble in pot.

“Legalization doesn’t appear to be convincing many to try cannabis, if they haven’t previously, but it is making people wary of investing in the industry if it affects their ability to travel to the United States,” said Lorne Bozinoff, president and founder of Forum Research.

Indeed, a whopping 73 per cent of those surveyed said they are in fact not likely to invest in the cannabis industry, with more than half (57 per cent) saying that they will not invest in the industry at all.

Results from the survey also suggested that Canadians appeared to lack confidence in the way in which cannabis consumption will be regulated by law enforcement — roughly 47 per cent said they were not confident at all in how cannabis sales will be policed, while 58 per cent said they were not confident in cannabis being kept away from minors.

Forum Research’s poll was a random sampling of public opinion from 1,226 Canadian voters, conducted earlier this month.