Pubdate: Sat, 15 Oct 2016 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Page: A23 EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT POT Over the last decade, about half a million Canadians have been prosecuted for simple possession of marijuana, many of them young people. More than 100,000 others have been charged for growing pot, possessing it for the purposes of selling or actually selling it to other Canadians. Some of these have indeed been gangsters, but many others have not. In fact, Statistics Canada data shows that since 2006 - - excluding impaired driving - more Canadians have been busted annually for marijuana than for traffic offences. According to Health Canada, marijuana is the world's most widely used illicit psychoactive substance, with an estimated 200 million users globally. Marijuana is also the world's most trafficked illegal drug. This vast black market creates fertile ground for organized crime and is a driver for equally onerous enforcement and administrative costs, not to mention the criminalization of hundreds of thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens with all the social, career and personal costs that accompany criminal records. One United Nations report published in 2013 found Canada ranks highest among all nations in rates of marijuana use among youth. So it's not surprising that Canadians strongly support the federal government's pledge to legalize marijuana while strictly regulating and restricting access, a practice in which it is already well-versed through the control of alcohol. And British Columbia, opinion polls show, is the source of the strongest provincial support for legalization - 76.2 per cent in favour. The more conservative prairie provinces trail in support, yet even there six out of 10 want marijuana decriminalized and regulated like alcohol. In fact, support for legalization has grown steadily in every region. But these opinions are tempered. Almost as many want a parallel system of close federal monitoring for safety and quality. As Vancouver Sun reporter Lori Culbert found during her investigations for a Postmedia report on Canada's present and future marijuana landscape, B.C., where support for legalization is strongest, also investigates people for simple possession more aggressively than any other province. These facts are just a few that Postmedia journalists uncovered as they examined the history of marijuana regulation since the 1920s. More rolls out in our pages and online over the coming week. We hope you will find it useful in evaluating a dramatic policy initiative that promises to affect every Canadian. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt