ALTHOUGH Canadians are hardly trading maple leaves for pot leaves, newly published findings suggest Cheech and Chong would feel right at home here.

In a nationwide survey, an overwhelming 93 percent of Canadians indicated they accept the idea of people legally smoking marijuana for health reasons. Nearly three in four (70 percent) not only accept the practice but also personally approve of the behaviour.

Support for the overall legalization of marijuana is also strong, with almost half of Canucks giving it a hearty thumbs-up -- the same percentage of people who, in a 2004 Health Canada sponsored survey were found to have smoked cannabis in their lifetime.

Results of the study of 2,400 adults are published in the new book The Boomer Factor: What Canada's Most Famous Generation is Leaving Behind, authored by Alberta's University of Lethbridge sociologist Reginald Bibby.

In 1975, 26 percent of Canadians supported the legalization of marijuana.

In 2005, 45 percent supported such a change; 48 percent of those aged 18 to 34, 48 percent of those aged 35 to 54, and 38 percent of those age 55 or older.

"Large numbers of Canadians -- rightly or wrongly -- do not believe its legalization would be detrimental to individuals or society, based in part on their personal experiences with pot," he says.

Regionally, support for the medical use of marijuana is fairly uniform. Quebec is most approving at 96 percent, followed by British Columbia at 94 percent, Ontario at 93 percent, the Prairies at 92 percent, and Atlantic Canada at 90 percent. National figures are considered accurate within three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap
Pubdate: Thu, 02 Nov 2006
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2006 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact: letters@freepress.mb.ca
Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: CanWest News Service