CANADIAN RATES OF MARIJUANA USE NO BIG DEAL -- EXPERTS

UN's 2007 Drug Report Found That 16.8 Per Cent of Canadians Between
the Ages of 15 and 64 Tried Pot at Least Once in 2006

Drug policy experts say they're not concerned about a new United
Nations report that suggests Canadians were more willing to try
marijuana last year than any other developed country in the world.

The UN's 2007 World Drug Report found 16.8 per cent of Canadians
between the ages of 15 and 64 tried pot at least once in 2006.

But Benedikt Fischer, a drug policy expert with the University of
Victoria, says the UN report doesn't examine patterns of use.

He says Canadians shouldn't be concerned about casual drug use, but
rather drug abuse and its social effects.

And York University law professor Alan Young says the high number is
likely because Canadians are more willing to report their drug use
than people in other countries.

Those countries that ranked ahead of Canada for marijuana use included
Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, Ghana and Zambia.