CANADA TOPS STUDY OF MARIJUANA USE

TORONTO - A new study shows Canadians surpass Americans and
even the Dutch when it comes to trying marijuana, but drug policy
experts say it's not a cause for concern.

The UN's 2007 World Drug Report found 16.8 per cent of Canadians
between the ages of 15 and 64 used pot in 2004 - the highest rate
among developed nations. The report studied the prevalence of
marijuana use in 2005, or the latest year for which data were available.

By comparison, 12.6 per cent of American respondents said they have
tried pot. Britain (8.7), France (8.6), Germany (6.9), and especially
Japan (0.1) all reported much lower rates than Canada.

But Benedikt Fischer, a drug policy expert with the University of
Victoria, said the UN report is flawed since it didn't examine
patterns of use.

"From a public health point of view, or consequence point of view,
these numbers are fairly meaningless," Fischer said.

"We want to know how many of those people use marijuana in a highly
frequent way, how many of them have problems related to marijuana use
and, thirdly, what are the social harms?"

Fischer added the numbers aren't surprising, and haven't changed much
from previous studies.

York University law professor Alan Young, who launched a
constitutional challenge to Canada's marijuana laws in 1997, said the
UN findings could have been distorted by the willingness of Canadians
to openly discuss their drug use.

"We have magazines that celebrate cannabis culture in this country,
we have conventions and conferences and rallies and concerts," he
said.

"It's become a large part of youth culture in Canada, and more
importantly, 50 per cent of marijuana smokers are over the age of 30.
So it's really gone to all age groups, all class groups. There's no
question about it that there is less stigma in Canada."

Eugene Oscapella, an Ottawa-based lawyer who specializes in drug
policy issues, said the UN report shows the legal status of marijuana
in a given country seems to have little bearing on consumption rates.

The report found only 6.1 per cent of people in the Netherlands, where
marijuana use has effectively been decriminalized, reported trying
pot. This shows decriminalization has no bearing on rates of use, and
Canada shouldn't be so afraid to follow the Dutch lead, Oscapella said.

"The criminal law does not prevent people from using marijuana, nor
does legalization force people to use it," he said.

Jean Chretien's Liberals first introduced a bill to decriminalize
small amounts of marijuana in 2003, but it was never brought to a
final vote. Stephen Harper's Conservatives killed the bill when they
came to office in January 2006.

The four countries ranked ahead of Canada for marijuana use were Papua
New Guinea (29.5 per cent), Micronesia (29.1), Ghana (21.5) and Zambia
(17.7).