POT GAP

One-Third of People Under 25 Toking Up

A massive pot-smoking generational gap between Canada's young people and
their parents is widening, a new Sun-Leger poll shows.

More than a third of young adults (36%), those aged 18-24, have smoked
marijuana in the past year compared to only 8% of their parents -- those in
the 35-54 age range -- according to the new survey taken April 1-6.

The percentage of Canadian youth who smoke marijuana -- 58% have tried it
by age 24, according to the poll -- has been continually rising since 1993
and is now among the highest in the world.

"Absolutely parents should be concerned. What if trying the drug moves on
to regular use?" said Diane Buhler, an executive with the Parent Action
Group on Drugs.

"The experimenting begins when the kids are in high school. The kids do
tell us marijuana is easily available and consistently used in their peer
groups. It's all around them."

While more than a third of people 18-24 have recently smoked, only 24% of
25-34-year-olds have puffed pot in the past year. After age 34, the rate
drops off dramatically with only 1% of seniors older than 65 lighting up
last year.

"What you're seeing is a lot of people experimenting at a young age and
then they are done with it," Buhler said. "Be careful not to overreact to
experimentation, but parents have to be very aware of use increases."

A similar poll two years ago showed the same results for the older age
groups but only 30% of young adults aged 18-24 had smoked in the year previous.

"The response we're getting consistently is, 'It can't be so bad, it's used
for medicine, how can you say it's as bad for you as alcohol?' " Buhler said.

Public awareness and marijuana education campaigns are almost non-existent.
The irony, Buhler said, is that if the drug laws were relaxed governments
would have to deal with the issue and spend more money on educating youth.

"That's what we're hoping," Buhler said. "The legalization debate has taken
over completely from health issues."

Canada's Marijuana Party Leader Marc-Boris St. Maurice said legalization of
marijuana would actually help control smoking habits.

"By having the state decide the parameters within which a person can
properly obtain marijuana is a much more effective safeguard than the
current situation where a dealer is not concerned with the age of the buyer
or their safety," he said.

The poll surveyed 1,501 people across Canada and sample results can be
considered accurate to within 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.