54% OF BRITISH COLUMBIANS SAY LEGAL POT IS OK

Fifty per cent of Canadians, including 54 per cent of B.C. residents,
support the legalization of marijuana, according to an Angus Reid poll
released Monday.

Manitoba and Saskatchewan had the highest support for legalization of
pot at 61 per cent, followed by B.C., and Ontario at 51 per cent.

"I think most people are now willing to accept that using a criminal
prohibition against adults who use cannabis is counter-productive,"
said SFU criminology Prof. Neil Boyd.

The poll demonstrates "that most Canadians no longer believe that we
should be treating adults who use marijuana as criminals."

Forty-seven per cent also opposed scrapping the previous Liberal
government's proposal to decriminalize possession of less than 15
grams of marijuana.

The online survey involved 1,000 randomly selected
adults.

On Oct. 1, California made possession of up to an ounce (about 30
joints) of marijuana an infraction on par with a speeding ticket.

The poll showed that almost 90 per cent opposed the legalization of
drugs such as heroin, cocaine, crystal meth or ecstasy.

Forty-nine per cent also opposed eliminating "harm-reduction" programs
such as supervised-injection sites and needle-exchange programs.
Sixteen per cent weren't sure.