IT'S OK TO PUFF POT FOR HEALTH, SURVEY FINDS

ALTHOUGH Canadians are hardly trading maple leaves for pot leaves,
newly published findings suggest Cheech and Chong would feel right at
home here.

In a nationwide survey, an overwhelming 93 per cent of Canadians
indicated they accept the idea of people legally smoking marijuana
for health reasons. Nearly three in four (70 per cent) not only
accept the practice but also personally approve of the behaviour.

Support for the overall legalization of marijuana is also strong,
with almost half of Canucks giving it a hearty thumbs-up -- the same
percentage of people who, in a 2004 Health Canada sponsored survey
were found to have smoked cannabis in their lifetime.

Results of the study of 2,400 adults are published in the new book
The Boomer Factor: What Canada's Most Famous Generation is Leaving
Behind, authored by Alberta's University of Lethbridge sociologist
Reginald Bibby.

In 1975, 26 per cent of Canadians supported the legalization of marijuana.

In 2005, 45 per cent supported such a change; 48 per cent of those
aged 18 to 34, 48 per cent of those aged 35 to 54, and 38 per cent of
those age 55 or older.

"Large numbers of Canadians -- rightly or wrongly -- do not believe
its legalization would be detrimental to individuals or society,
based in part on their personal experiences with pot," he says.

Regionally, support for the medical use of marijuana is fairly
uniform. Quebec is most approving at 96 per cent, followed by British
Columbia at 94 per cent, Ontario at 93 per cent, the Prairies at 92
per cent, and Atlantic Canada at 90 per cent. National figures are
considered accurate within three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.