A large majority of Canadians wants marijuana to be legalized and made available for sale to every adult in the country, regardless of medical need. Right?
Maybe not. A new survey conducted by a major financial advisory company and obtained by the National Post ahead of its release casts some doubt on that piece of conventional wisdom. Deloitte LLP surveyed 5,000 Canadians 19 years and older this summer and found that only 40 per cent favour marijuana legalization, with almost as many opposed, throwing shade on one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s key campaign promises from the 2015 federal election.
In B.C., the province most closely associated with pot production and consumption, 42 per cent of people surveyed were in favour of legalization, with 33 per cent opposed. Next door in Alberta, more people were actually opposed to legalization than in favour of it. In Ontario, 40 per cent were in favour with 36 per cent opposed, while Quebeckers were almost evenly divided.
The Deloitte findings seem at odds with results from similar but smaller surveys conducted earlier this year by other firms, when as many as 75 per cent of respondents nationwide said they supported legalization.
The latest survey comes just ahead of a final report from the federal Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation, to be delivered next month to Trudeau and his cabinet. Chaired by former Liberal cabinet minister Anne McLellan, the nine-person task force is meant to “provide advice for the design of a new legislative and regulatory framework” for recreational pot.