QUEBEC SEALS CANADA'S TOP POT STATUS

MONTREAL -- Were it not for prodigious pot use in Quebec, Canada would
not have placed first in a United Nations drug study of marijuana use
in the industrialized world.

In fact, were Quebec a sovereign nation, it would have finished first
ahead of Canada, according to a breakdown of the data supplied by
Canada for the UN study.

The biggest difference between Quebec and the rest of Canada is among
the young. According to the Health Canada's 2002 Youth Smoking Survey,
which looked at marijuana as well as tobacco, 32 per cent of students
in Grades 7 to 9 in Quebec have smoked marijuana at least once. That
compares with 18 per cent in B.C., which ranked second in Canada, and
11 per cent in Ontario, which was ranked lowest among provinces and
territories.

The 2007 World Drug Report made headlines last week when it was
revealed that Canada topped the list of industrialized nations for
marijuana use.