Almost half of Quebecers believe cannabis consumption is socially acceptable: survey

Vive le cannabis!

Quebec may have some of the strictest cannabis laws (and they’re about to get stricter), but it turns out Quebecers aren’t quite as anti-weed as their choice of government might suggest.

 

 

According to the Quebec Cannabis Survey from the Institut de la statistique du Québec, which interviewed over 10,000 Quebecers, nearly half of Quebec residents believe that occasional cannabis consumption to be socially acceptable. The survey sought to explore social norms and perceptions surrounding cannabis in the province pre-legalization.

Men were more accepting of recreational use, with 53 percent of men versus 48 percent of women deeming occasional consumption to be socially acceptable. Unsurprisingly, smoking tobacco was believed to be more socially acceptable than cannabis, according to 55 percent of survey participants. 93 percent responded that consuming alcohol was acceptable.

The survey was conducted over the period of March to June of last year and was completed in partnership with the province’s ministry of health.

The survey “should contribute to enriching the knowledge about the issues surrounding cannabis use and to support decisions about the adaptation of services and programs for the population,” said the Institute’s general director Daniel Florea in the report summary.

The survey consulted Quebec residents aged 15 and up. The minimum age to purchase cannabis is 18, as with alcohol, but the current provincial government has stated its intent to change it to 21. Home growing is also verboten under provincial law.

Some experts are saying that the results aren’t really that surprising.

“The rest of Canada often thinks of Quebec as a province that is behind in the cannabis game, or just doesn’t like cannabis. But, interestingly, this survey is showing higher rates of use in Quebec than national averages previously gathered by Health Canada,” says Kira London-Nadeau, president of Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy. “For example, for past-year use, Stats Can reports 17.5 percent among 15-17-year-olds, and the QC cannabis survey reports 22 percent. In 18-24-year-olds nationally, we see 28.4 percent, whereas the QC cannabis survey found 36 percent of past-year use. Aside from these figures, the QC cannabis survey essentially shows that Quebec has a very similar profile of use and reasons for use when compared to the rest of Canada, which is something often forgotten since our policies don’t necessarily reflect this.”

The survey is currently available exclusively in French.