POSSESSION OF POT NO CRIME, POLL TOLD

51 PER CENT SAY IT'S OKAY TO TOKE UP

By John Gray

Canada has become a mellow nation where even the middleaged believe that
smoking marijuana should not be a crime.

With the aging of the generation that proclaimed an extravagant commitment
to sex and drugs and rock 'n roll, 51 per cent of Canadians a wafer thin
majority say having the drug should not be a criminal offence.

And when marijuana is intended for health purposes only, an astonishing 83
per cent believe it should be legal.

The majority who now believe marijuana should not be a criminal offence is
a dramatic change from the 39 per cent who held that view just 10 years
ago. The change in attitudes was revealed yesterday in a CTV/Angus Reid poll.

The only age group that remains opposed to the decriminalization of
marijuana is those over 55 people who were generally older when the
generation that took to marijuana with a vengeance in the 1960s and 1970s.

The 41 per cent of those 55 and older who believe that marijuana smoking
should remain a crime stands in dramatic contrast to the 54 per cent
between the ages of 35 and 54 in favour of legalizing it.

The poll of 1,515 adult Canadians, conducted between Oct. 23 and Oct. 28,
is a rich if not entirely surprising lode of material for anyone studying
public attitudes in the country.

Among those favouring legalization of marijuana were 63 per cent of British
Columbians, 54 per cent of Quebeckers, 51 per cent of Ontarians and 56 per
cent of those under 35.

Those who remain opposed to marijuana number 55 per cent in Atlantic Canada
and 53 per cent on the Prairies.

Education appears to be one of the significant indicators of attitude. Of
those with less than highschool education, 51 per cent are opposed to the
legalization of marijuana. But 55 per cent of university graduates are in
favour.