B.C. LEADS NATION IN SUPPORT FOR LEGALIZATION OF POT

Poll: 70 Per Cent Of Canadians Want Mandatory Sentences For Drug Dealers

Most Canadians believe they should be free to toke with impunity --
but their tolerance for marijuana use doesn't extend to other, harder
drugs, according to a new national poll.

The Angus Reid poll, released yesterday, also shows many Canadians
(42 per cent) believe Canada has a serious nationwide drug abuse
problem and 70 per cent want mandatory minimum prison sentences and
fines for drug dealers and marijuana grow operators.

"As was the case two years ago, a majority of Canadians (53 per cent)
support the legalization of marijuana," said an Angus Reid media release.

Three provinces saw the highest levels of support for legalization:
British Columbia (61 per cent), Alberta (59 per cent) and Ontario (57
per cent).

The online survey of 1,010 Canadians between April 8-9 showed that
support for legalization of hard drugs "is negligible" -- less than
one in 10 voiced support for legalizing hard drugs. The margin of
error for the survey is plus or minus 3.1 per cent.

The poll shows 83 per cent of Canadians support the federal
government's National Anti-Drug Strategy awareness campaign to
discourage young Canadians from using drugs.

But only slightly more than a third of Canadians support the idea of
eliminating harm-reduction programs such as supervised injection
sites and needle-exchange programs.

In B.C., where the federal government waged a fight to close
Vancouver's Insite supervised injection site, 64 per cent of
respondents said such programs should continue.