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Majority of Canadians Would Legalize Marijuana, But Not Other Drugs

Published on Apr 15 - 2010

Two-in-five respondents believe Canada has a serious drug abuse problem that affects the entire country.The views of Canadians on the legalization of marijuana have not shifted over the past two years, with a majority of respondents calling for the substance to be readily available, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.

In the online survey of a representative national sample of 1,010 Canadian adults, two-in-five respondents (42%, -2 since May 2008) believe Canada has a serious drug abuse problem that affects the whole country.

A similar proportion of Canadians (40%, +5) think the country’s drug abuse problem is confined to specific areas and people. Roughly one-in-ten Canadians (11%, -4) believe Canada does not have a serious drug abuse problem.

Government Proposals

Many Canadians side with two proposals to deal with drug abuse that have been outlined by the federal government over the past four years: the introduction of a National Anti-Drug Strategy, including a nationwide awareness campaign to discourage young Canadians from using drugs (83%) and the plan to ensure mandatory minimum prison sentences and large fines for marijuana grow operators and drug dealers (70%).

However, just over a third of Canadians (36%) agree with two other ideas: scrapping the previous government’s marijuana decriminalization legislation and eliminating “harm reduction” programs, such as supervised injection sites and needle-exchange programs.

Legalization

As was the case two years ago, a majority of Canadians (53%) support the legalization of marijuana. People in British Columbia (61%), Alberta (59%) and Ontario (57%) hold the highest level of support for the legalization of cannabis.

Less than one-in-ten respondents believe other drugs—such as ecstasy, crack cocaine, powder cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine or “crystal meth”—should be legalized. In fact, when the numbers are compared to the May 2008 Angus Reid survey, support for the legalization of these drugs has fallen by at least three percentage points in each case.

Analysis

A high proportion of Canadians are in favour of two of the measures proposed by the current federal government to curb drug abuse in Canada. However, just like in 2008, marijuana is in a class of its own. While the level of support for the legalization of so-called “hard drugs” is negligible—and actually dropped further since the 2008 Angus Reid survey—a majority of Canadians have no qualms about making cannabis legal.

Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)

CONTACT:Mario Canseco, Vice President, Public Affairs
+877 730 3570
mario.canseco@angus-reid.com

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