MIDLIFE TOKING ON THE RISE

Ice-cold beer probably won't be the only mood-altering substance on
the menu in many backyards across Canada this summer.

An increasing number of adults - particularly those in their 30s and
40s - are using marijuana, according to a new Ontario-wide report that
reflects what experts describe as a growing cross-country trend.

Canadians in their late teens and early 20s are usually considered the
predominant pot-smoking demographic.

But the average age of marijuana users in Ontario was 31 in 2005,
compared with 26 in 1977, according to a report released yesterday by
the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. The report found that 40
per cent of those surveyed in 2005 who reported smoking pot in the
previous year were between 30 and 49. In 1977, that number was just
15.4 per cent.

"Basically, it tells us that cannabis use has become a more and more
acceptable lifestyle for adults," said Juergen Rehm, senior scientist
at CAMH. "Now we see it is trickling into the lives of more and more
and older and older Ontarians."

Those pot smokers won't usually be found slumped on the couch in the
middle of the day listening to Led Zeppelin albums, either. Nearly
one-third of those who used marijuana in the previous year had
completed at least some post-secondary education, and 32 per cent
earned more than $50,000 a year, the report said.

"We definitely are seeing an older clientele coming to the store,
there's no question about that," said Robin Ellins, proprietor of the
Friendly Stranger, a cannabis culture shop in Toronto. "We see
everybody. I've had women that are in their late 60s coming in to buy
their first pipe."

Canada is a well-known hot spot for marijuana use. A United Nations
world drug report released last year showed that 16.8 per cent of
Canadians between 15 and 64 had smoked pot in the previous year, one
of the highest levels in the world. Similar figures were published by
the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse in 2005.

But the report released yesterday offers a rare glimpse into how drug
and alcohol consumption patterns have shifted in the province over the
course of three decades.

For instance, just 3.9 per cent of Ontarians between 30 and 39
surveyed in 1977 said they had smoked marijuana in the previous year.
In 2005, that number had jumped to 17 per cent. Similarly, while 2.3
per cent of Ontarians aged 40 to 49 had smoked pot in 1977, that
number was 10.8 per cent in 2005. Men were significantly more likely
than women to have tried cannabis during the previous year.

Over all, the CAMH report found 14 per cent of Ontarians aged 18 and
older surveyed in 2005 had smoked cannabis in the previous year, a
jump from 8 per cent in 1977.

Dr. Rehm said there is no real health concern among the 14 per cent of
Ontarians who reported occasionally smoking marijuana on a
recreational basis, about once a month or less. The problem is with
the 2 per cent of Ontarians who smoke often, are intoxicated for long
periods of time and are considered "hazardous" users.

The same survey found that overall rates of cigarette smoking and
drinking and driving have significantly declined in Ontario over the
past decade, while binge drinking remains elevated.

Although the overall numbers of pot-smoking thirty- and
fortysomethings are not overwhelmingly high, that demographic is
edging closer to becoming the largest proportion of marijuana users in
Ontario.

In 1977, 82 per cent of pot smokers in Ontario were between 18 and 29.
In 2005, that number had dropped to less than 54 per cent. Meanwhile,
30- to 49-year-olds, who made up just 15.4 per cent of Ontario pot
smokers in 1977, now represent 40 per cent of the province's marijuana
users.

Mr. Ellins said he doesn't believe rates of marijuana use have
actually increased among older Canadians. Rather, the destruction of
old taboos means that people are more willing to admit to toking on
the weekend than they were before, he said.

"The consumption was there in that group before, but they couldn't let
their neighbours know and they couldn't let their boss know, but now,
they're getting together on the weekend and smoking with their
neighbours."