In favour of legal weed

Photo: Contributed

Canadians appear to have mixed feelings about new federal legislation that will eventually legalize marijuana.

While they are in favour of the draft legislation, an Angus Reid poll shows respondents are skeptical it will achieve goals the government has set out.

More than 60 per cent support the proposed Cannabis Act, expected to come into law sometime next year, but 66 per cent expect it to fall short of in its key mission of making it more difficult for young people to use the drug.

A small majority also believe it will fail to cut organized crime from the pot industry, while half believe the surge in people driving while impaired will continue.

Less than half of Canadians believe the proposed 30-gram possession limit is the right amount, while the rest believe it is too high, or too low, with most of those saying the limit is too high.

Key finding from the survey include:

• Six-in-ten Canadians (63 per cent) say they are in favour of the Cannabis Act proposed by the federal government. That’s slightly lower than the two-thirds (68 per cent) said “make it legal” when the Angus Reid Institute asked about the subject last year
• Canadians are divided evenly over whether new proposed punishments for driving under the influence of marijuana will have the desired effect. Half (49 per cent) say they expect the measures to discourage marijuana-impaired driving, while 51 per cent remain unconvinced
• Two-in-three (66 per cent) say the new law, if passed, will fail to prevent young people from using even more pot than they already do – something the government has made a key goal of its legalization effort