MARIJUANA USE IS INCREASING IN CANADA

Pretend it's the 1960s and bring on the pot! According to the 2004
Canadian Addiction Survey (CAS), there is a steady increase in
marijuana use over the past decade.

In 1994, 28 per cent of Canadian young adults 18 years and older
reported using marijuana at least once in their life; today that
number has increased to 45 per cent. 14 percent reported using
marijuana this past year, indicating a seven per cent increase since
1994.

"Despite the obvious problem of increased usage, there is the issue of
using tobacco in joints or pipe smoking to assist in burning or to
titrate the effect of marijuana, says Dr. Scott Leatherdale,
researcher at Cancer Care Ontario, University of Waterloo and
University of Toronto. "There is an urgent need to examine the
relationship between tobacco and marijuana use among this at-risk
population more closely."

In 2004, approximately 1.9 million Canadians between the ages of 15
and 24 reported trying marijuana and 1.1 million reported using in the
last year. While 590,000 reported using pot three or less times per
month, 430,000 of all young adults reported using the green guy weekly
or daily.

Of the young adults surveyed, 960,000 were current smokers. 34 per
cent of them reported using marijuana at least once a week while 13
per cent smoked marijuana everyday.

"Another big problem is young adults from rural communities experiment
more with substances like this and have a higher frequency of use than
young adults from urban communities," Leatherdale continues.

"On top of that, studies indicated that it is not uncommon for youth
to have either tried marijuana prior to trying cigarettes or at the
same time they started using tobacco.

A substantial number of former smokers reported using marijuana, which
may cause a relapse to tobacco addiction."

It is clear interventions need to be taken in regards to marijuana
use, especially with young adults, as both tobacco and marijuana can
serve as "gateway" drugs to one another.