Attitudes toward marijuana are changing in Canada, a fact that pundits say will very likely have ramifications in the next year’s federal election.
The battle lines over legalization of pot are drawn on the federal level. The governing Conservatives are against legalization, the third-party Liberals are for legalization and the official opposition New Democrats support decriminalization.
On Wednesday, a public opinion poll conducted for the federal Department of Justice found than two-thirds of Canadians want marijuana laws to be softened.
It also showed that a small majority of Canadians believes companies should not be permitted to sell marijuana just as they sell alcohol and cigarettes. But the poll also showed many Canadians have no problem with the proposition.
According to the Ispos Reid survey, just over 37 per cent of Canadians said marijuana should be legalized, just over 33 per cent said possession of small amounts of marijuana should be decriminalized with a fine rather than a criminal record, just under 14 per cent per cent said the country’s marijuana laws should stay the same and 12 per cent said marijuana penalties should be increased.
Meanwhile, 82.9 per cent of Canadians believe marijuana should be legally available for doctors to prescribe to their patients – something that is now allowed.
The poll found that many Canadians don’t think legalization would increase pot-smoking in this country: 52.6 per cent believe marijuana use would “stay about the same” if legalized, 38.4 per cent say it would increase, and 6.3 per cent say it would decrease.
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