CANADIANS IN FAVOUR OF RELAXING POT LAWS: POLL

Nearly two-thirds of Canadians are open to the idea of
decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana, according to the results of
a new poll.

The results come as the Liberal party voted overwhelmingly to
sup-port legalization of the drug at its biennial policy convention
on the weekend, seeming to put the party on side with public opinion.

Forty per cent of respondents to the Forum Research poll said they
were in favour of the legalization and taxation of pot, while another
26 per cent said they were for the decriminalization of carrying
small amounts of the drug.

Another 20 per cent said the law should remain as it is and 11 per
cent were in favour of bolstering current legislation. NDP supporters
were the most likely to say they were for the easing of current
marijuana laws (71 per cent), followed by Liberal sup-porters (64 per
cent) and Conservative supporters (59 per cent).

Tory support for full legalization was close to that of Liberal
supporters, with 35 and 36 per cent support respectively. Forty-two
per cent of NDP supporters said they would be interested in making pot legal.

"Canadians clearly feel the possession of small amounts of marijuana
should be legalized," Forum president Lorne Bozinoff said in a news release.

British Columbians were the most likely to support making the drug
legal and taxing it - half of B.C. respondents, in fact. Support was
weakest for legalization in Quebec, with 36 per cent support among
those surveyed.

About 40 per cent of respondents in the Atlantic provinces (42 per
cent), the Prairies (40 per cent) and Ontario (38 per cent) supported
full legalization.

The telephone poll was conducted Dec. 13 and surveyed 1,160 randomly
selected people over 18. The poll is accurate to plus or minus 2.9
percentage points, 19 times out of 20.