POT SMOKERS GETTING OLDER: SURVEY

Marijuana Finds Its Way 'Into an Adult Lifestyle'

More adults in Ontario are smoking marijuana than a decade ago, and
the average age of cannabis users is increasing, Jurgen Rehm, senior
scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, said yesterday.

According to the CAHM annual survey of adult substance use, the number
of adults in Ontario who reported cannabis use over a one-year period
is up from eight per cent in 1977 to 14 per cent in 2005. More
telling, said Rehm, is the aging of the cannabis user, who now is on
average 31 years old, compared with 26 in 1977.

"For a long time, marijuana smoking was confined to a transitional
phenomenon," Rehm said. "But it now finds its way into an adult lifestyle."

Across Canada, the rate of marijuana use has been increasing,
according to a 2004 study by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse
(CCSA).

The percentage of Canadians over the age of 15 who reported cannabis
use at least once in the 2004 study was highest in B.C., at 16.8 per
cent, and lowest in P.E.I., at 10.7 per cent.

Amy Porath-Waller, senior research analyst at the CCSA, said marijuana
use among men is more prevalent than women but overall the rate of use
remains low.

"Cannabis use really isn't that frequent among Canadians,"
Porath-Waller said. "Among the Canadians that do report past year use
of cannabis, 46 per cent report two or fewer times in the past three
months."

While the rate of cannabis use among teens has levelled off in recent
years, Rehm, of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, said more
adults continue to use marijuana, contributing to the overall increase
in the average age of pot smokers.

The number of people who reported smoking cigarettes in Ontario is the
lowest on record, declining from 28 per cent in 1996 to 20 per cent in
2005, Rehm said, arguing the increase in cannabis use points to the
need for more education.

Rehm said marijuana use still remains infrequent for most adults, with
only two per cent smoking at hazardous levels. Rehm said three per
cent of respondents reported driving within one hour of getting high.

Canada ranked fifth in the world for marijuana use, according to the
2007 UN World Drug Report.

The report found 16.8 per cent of Canadians age 15-64 reported using
cannabis at least once in 2006, behind New Guinea and Micronesia with
29 per cent, Ghana at 21.5 per cent and Zambia with 17.7 per cent. The
world average was 3.8 per cent.