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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Half of Canadians Support the Legalization of Marijuana
#13555921 - 11/29/10 03:47 AM (13 years, 2 months ago) |
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Half of Canadians Support the Legalization of Marijuana November 29, 2010 - angus-reid.com
Half of Canadians believe marijuana should be legalized but less than one-in-ten believe other drugs should be readily available, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.
The online survey of a representative national sample of 1,000 Canadian adults also shows that respondents agree with the federal government’s decision to extradite Marc Emery to the United States, but a similarly high proportion would prefer to see him serve his sentence in Canada.
More than a third of Canadians (37%) believe Canada has a serious drug abuse problem which affects the whole country, while two-in-five (41%) think Canada’s drug abuse problem is confined to specific areas and people. Only 11 per cent of respondents state that Canada does not have a serious drug abuse problem.
Respondents in Atlantic Canada (49%) and British Columbia (46%) are more likely to say that Canada has a serious drug abuse problem that affects the entire country.
Legislation
Four-in-five Canadians (81%) support the introduction of a National Anti-Drug Strategy, including a nationwide awareness campaign to discourage young Canadians from using drugs. Three-in-five respondents (64%) support ensuring mandatory minimum prison sentences and large fines for marijuana grow operators and drug dealers.
Earlier this month, the Senate of Canada passed a drug-sentencing bill that would automatically imprison people caught growing five or more marijuana plants. The previous version of the legislation was geared at punishing people caught growing at least 200 plants.
Two other policies continue to do poorly among Canadians. Only 35 per cent of respondents agree to eliminate “harm reduction” programs, such as supervised injection sites and needle-exchange programs, and 33 per cent support the decision to scrap the previous government’s marijuana decriminalization legislation.
Drugs
Half of Canadians (50%) support the legalization of marijuana, while 44 per cent are opposed. Respondents in Manitoba and Saskatchewan (61%), British Columbia (54%) and Ontario (51%) are all in favour of legalizing marijuana, while the lowest level of support is seen in Alberta (45%).
Nine-in-ten Canadians disagree with legalizing other drugs, such as ecstasy, heroin, crack cocaine, powder cocaine, and methamphetamine or “crystal meth”. This month’s results are consistent with the opinions voiced by Canadians in surveys conducted in May 2008 and April 2010.
Marc Emery
Respondents are evenly split on the punishment handed out to Canadian citizen Marc Emery, who pleaded guilty to a charge of manufacturing marijuana in a U.S. court, with 35 per cent of respondents saying that the five-year sentence that was levied is too harsh, and 35 per cent stating that it is correct.
Half of respondents (50%) believe the Canadian federal government was right in extraditing Emery to the United States, and a similar proportion (51%) agree with extraditing Canadian citizens to foreign countries when the punishment they face for their crimes is more severe than the punishment they would face in Canada.
When asked whether the Canadian government should approve a citizen transfer so that Marc Emery can serve his sentence in Canada, almost half of respondents (46%) agree with this rationale, while two-in-five (39%) disagree.
Analysis
The views of Canadians on drugs have not gone through an overwhelming shift over the past three years. Half of respondents continue to support the legalization of marijuana, but this sentiment is clearly not extended towards so-called “hard drugs.” The national campaign to encourage kids to stay away from drugs gets an overwhelming level of support, and Canadians support punishing large scale drug dealers. However, the public is not satisfied with the decisions to both abandon the push towards decriminalization started by the Paul Martin government and ignore “harm reduction” as a strategy.
On the Emery case, Canadians agree with the government’s resolution to extradite Emery and believe that similar guidelines should be observed for any other Canadian citizen in a similar situation. Still, particularly in British Columbia and Quebec, many respondents believe that Emery should be allowed to serve out his sentence in Canada.
Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)
Methodology: From November 23 to November 24, 2010, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 1,000 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
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Simplepowa
In Pursuit of Knowledge


Registered: 03/06/09
Posts: 4,310
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Re: Half of Canadians Support the Legalization of Marijuana [Re: veggie]
#13556218 - 11/29/10 07:53 AM (13 years, 2 months ago) |
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It is still better than nothing I guess...

But anyway. 1000 people is not all the population, and they didn't call in Quebec so.
Edit: Seems like they called in Quebec finally. Doh.
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Carl Sagan - "Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people." --- Robert Pirsig - "When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion." --- Brian Cox - "[One] problem with today’s world is that everyone believes they have the right to express their opinion AND have others listen to it. The correct statement of individual rights is that everyone has the right to an opinion, but crucially, that opinion can be roundly ignored and even made fun of, particularly if it is demonstrably nonsense."
Edited by Simplepowa (11/29/10 09:34 AM)
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Cannashroom
Smoke two Joints



Registered: 10/25/07
Posts: 2,141
Loc: Everywhere
Last seen: 6 years, 10 months
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Re: Half of Canadians Support the Legalization of Marijuana [Re: Simplepowa]
#13556468 - 11/29/10 09:06 AM (13 years, 2 months ago) |
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3/5 support Mandatory minimums.
Fucking ignorant fools!
It seems Harper and his propaganda dogs win again, wow people are so fucking dumb it makes me angry.
-------------------- "A human being is part of the whole, called by us 'Universe'; a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely but striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security." Albert Einstein
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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Re: Half of Canadians Support the Legalization of Marijuana [Re: Cannashroom]
#13556751 - 11/29/10 10:33 AM (13 years, 2 months ago) |
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I was surprised as to how many (50%) were for extradition. Marc Emery is one of their own and in Canada the same crime would have been a slap on the wrist.
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Plok
Life is fractal


Registered: 09/08/04
Posts: 1,152
Loc: Los Angeles
Last seen: 3 months, 1 day
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Re: Half of Canadians Support the Legalization of Marijuana [Re: veggie]
#13556878 - 11/29/10 11:03 AM (13 years, 2 months ago) |
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I thought people in Canada were smarter than this...
-------------------- Just say NO to the War on Drugs.
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Morningrise
Electric Wizard


Registered: 09/05/09
Posts: 133
Loc: Canada
Last seen: 5 years, 7 months
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Re: Half of Canadians Support the Legalization of Marijuana [Re: Plok]
#13557438 - 11/29/10 01:49 PM (13 years, 2 months ago) |
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I kind of doubt the accuracy of some of these answers. For example, while there were definitely some people up here in favor of extraditing Marc Emery, I really don't think it was 50%. I also find it hard to believe that Saskatchewan and Manitoba are the provinces most in favor of legalization, and that they're ahead of BC and Ontario. Haven't spent any significant time in Manitoba or Ontario, so I can't comment on the situation there, but I lived in Vancouver for a while and am currently in Saskatchewan, and there's just no comparison between the two, it's kind of hard to imagine that people here are more in favor of legalizing weed than people in BC (though that's pretty interesting if it's actually true).
Some of the other answers I wouldn't doubt though. Like most people being in favor of mandatory minimums. Our current government is basically the Canadian equivalent of the Bush administration and have been spouting anti-drug, tough-on-crime propaganda for some time now. And sadly they've been elected twice, and the Liberal Party (the "opposition") is doing basically nothing to oppose them.
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SuperD
Cacti junky


Registered: 10/05/03
Posts: 6,648
Loc: The bridgesii bridge
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Re: Half of Canadians Support the Legalization of Marijuana [Re: Morningrise]
#13557715 - 11/29/10 02:55 PM (13 years, 2 months ago) |
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Canada has what, a population of about 33 million? They only surveyed 1,000 people from this study. Not a very good example of what the majority think at all.
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   D Manoa said: I need to stop spending all my money on plants and take up a cheaper hobby, like heroin. Looking for Rauhocereus riosaniensis seeds or live specimen(s), me if you have any for trade
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Culland
Stranger



Registered: 09/12/07
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Re: Half of Canadians Support the Legalization of Marijuana [Re: SuperD]
#13558217 - 11/29/10 04:38 PM (13 years, 2 months ago) |
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I couldnt find the exact question they asked in regards to Marc Emery but I think it is safe to say that there is no way that 50% of Canadians even know who he is or the details surrounding his extradition enough to make an informed response.
Doesn't really matter though, as long as we have Harper and his collection of yes men at the helm of the government there will be no progress as it relates to these issues.
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pwnasaurus
Stranger



Registered: 07/16/08
Posts: 12,317
Loc: Canada
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Re: Half of Canadians Support the Legalization of Marijuana [Re: Culland]
#13558621 - 11/29/10 05:51 PM (13 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
Culland said: I couldnt find the exact question they asked in regards to Marc Emery but I think it is safe to say that there is no way that 50% of Canadians even know who he is or the details surrounding his extradition enough to make an informed response.
Doesn't really matter though, as long as we have Harper and his collection of yes men at the helm of the government there will be no progress as it relates to these issues.
Fuck Harper. He is such a giant sack of shit. I cannot wait for him to be out of office.
I am appalled by the answers to these polls as well. I can't believe how ignorant and uninformed HALF THE NATION is. It's really unbelievable.
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