Pubdate: Sun, 21 Jan 2018
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2018 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.torontosun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://torontosun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author: Liz Braun
Page: 3

CANNABIS EDIBLES GET HIGHER APPROVAL RATE

Better dust off that recipe for hash brownies.

A new poll says more people are expressing approval of cannabis
edibles.

The Forum Poll interviewed 1,022 voters in Ontario and found that more
than half approve of the sale of baked goods, drinks and other food
items that contain marijuana.

In the two years since the last survey, that approval number has moved
up six points (from 46% to 52%); likewise, the numbers of those who
disapprove of the sale of such items has gone down from 43% to 37%.

In broad terms, that means the 'yea' and 'nay' factions were about
equal as recently as 2015, but the new poll shows that balance tipping
toward a general thumbs up for the sale of food containing dope.

About one person in 10 doesn't know (or perhaps doesn't care) about
this matter, and that figure hasn't really changed over time.

So who's in favour and who's against?

Not surprisingly, the poll found that those most likely to support the
sale of marijuana edibles are young, relatively rich and mostly
educated. Support came from those 34 or younger (72%), earning $80,000
to $100,000 annually (63%); in the pro group, 52% had college/
university or post-grad degrees.

Politically, 66% of those who support the sale of marijuana edibles
say they support the NDP.

Extrapolate at will.

The biggest supporters overall of these edibles are people who already
consume marijuana - fully 88% of them are in favour of such sales. Far
out, man.

Their older (65+), poorer, PC-voting brethren - the majority of whom
live outside the big city - are the people most likely to disapprove
of marijuana edibles.

Despite the higher approval numbers for the sale of cannabis edibles,
most people voted for privacy when asked just where those edibles
should be consumed.

One-third (34%) of those polled felt that cannabis edibles should only
be consumed in private. Some people (18%) thought designated public
areas were okay - sort of like breastfeeding in the women's bathroom
is okay, maybe? - while 16% thought licensed lounges were a good idea.

About 14% said they didn't know what the best place would
be.

A small number of people (13%) thought marijuana edibles would be okay
to consume in public. Even fewer (5%) liked the idea of a confined
area at festivals or other events.

Among people who already consume marijuana, 30% thought anywhere at
all would be okay for consumption, and 25% wanted designated public
locations.

How about licensed lounges, then?

"No!" said nearly half of the people asked (45%).

But about 38% said they'd approve of licensed lounges where cannabis
edibles could be consumed legally.

Here's the most important stat: of those polled, only 23% had consumed
marijuana in the last year. And 77% said they had not consumed
marijuana over the last year.

Respondents most likely to say they have consumed in the past year
were again a younger group - 34 and younger (41%) - but they were the
least wealthy (30%), with some college or university (30%), supporting
the NDP (40%) and living in Toronto (27%).
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MAP posted-by: Matt