12% ADMIT TO SMOKING MARIJUANA

Canada is in no danger of turning into a nation of potheads, according
to a new Statistics Canada report.

But the number of Canadians, especially younger ones, who admit to
indulging in marijuana and hashish almost doubled over a 13-year
period, which is not a good sign to the Calgary Police Service.

"Marijuana isn't a soft drug anymore," said Sgt. Roger Morrison of the
city's drug unit, which has confiscated $45 million of marijuana this
year.

The report says about three million Canadians aged 15 and older, or
12.2 per cent, admitted in 2002 to using the two cannabis substances
in the previous 12 months. This was up from 6.5 per cent who reported
use of cannabis in 1989, and 7.4 per cent in 1994.

Among those aged 15 through 17, the rate was 29 per cent -- numbers
similar to a report conducted by the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Commission in 2002 in which almost 27 per cent of students between
grades 7 to 12 had tried marijuana at least once during that year.

The report found usage drops off the older Canadians get. It drops to
six per cent among those 45 to 54 years of age, and virtually
disappears after age 65.