MIDDLE-CLASS HIGH ON MARIJUANA

A variety of educated, middle-class Canadians are "making a conscious
but careful choice to use marijuana" to relax or focus on leisure
activities, say researchers behind a new study spotlighting pot
smoking behind the nation's picket fences.

These people might drive minivans to their full-time jobs or run a
household, but come time to unwind, it's not Dr. Phil who's calming
their nerves.

"It's an illegal activity, so it's still something people do in
secret, usually in the privacy of their own home," says Geraint
Osborne, whose study is published in the spring edition of the journal
Substance Use and Misuse. "They're a little reluctant to come forward
and talk about it, using the phrase that they're still 'in the closet.' "

A qualitative study of 41 adult Canadians nationwide suggests people
of all ages and educational backgrounds are lighting up. The
University of Alberta's Osborne and the University of Calgary's Curtis
Fogel led the study, which shows most of the participants smoke pot to
loosen up or enhance various leisure activities.

"Music, television, movies, computer games, creative endeavours, the
outdoors, sex -- they find marijuana makes all those things more
pleasurable," says Osborne.

The study also found its middle-class participants consider themselves
responsible users of the drug.