POLL: MOST FAVOUR LEGAL POT

British Columbians believe legalizing marijuana will reduce the
criminal violence associated with the drug trade, an Angus Reid
Strategies / CTV poll released on Friday has found.

Some of the key findings include:

- - Sixty-five per cent would legalize marijuana to reduce violence; 35
per cent would increase penalties for trafficking;

- - Fifty-one per cent say that lack of enforcement of "soft drug" laws
lets criminals go free; 49 per cent believe that enforcement makes
criminals from law-abiding citizens;

- - Thirty-two per cent believe that holding the 2010 Winter Olympics
is important to them;

- - Thirty-four per cent believe that drivers should pay tolls to fund
new roads and bridges.

In the online survey of a representative provincial sample of 822
British Columbia adults, nearly two-thirds of respondents (65 per
cent) would choose to legalize marijuana in order to reduce violence,
while only 35 per cent believe increased penalties for marijuana
trafficking is the answer.

Green Party and NDP supporters are most likely to support the
legalization of marijuana (77 per cent and 74 per cent respectively).

From April 24 to April 26, 2009 Angus Reid Strategies conducted an
online survey among a randomly selected, representative sample of 822
adult residents of B.C.