Only half of cannabis users are acquiring “all” of their product at licensed retailers in their provinces.
Vancouver, BC [October 23, 2024] – While most Canadians continue to endorse the legalization of marijuana, only half of consumers acknowledge that all of their product was acquired at a licensed retailer in the past six years, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative national sample, 62% of Canadians (-2 since a similar Research Co. poll conducted in October 2023) agree with marijuana being legal in Canada, while 33% disagree and 4% are undecided.
Agreement with legal cannabis in Canada is highest in Quebec (66%), followed by Alberta (64%), Ontario (also 64%), British Columbia (60%), Atlantic Canada (56%) and Saskatchewan and Manitoba (53%).
Canadians of Indigenous or European origins are more likely to support the legalization of marijuana (75% and 67% respectively) than their counterparts of South Asian or East Asian descent (57% and 45% respectively).
“Over the past four years, the legalization of marijuana has consistently been endorsed by more than three-in-five Canadians,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “In 2024, opposition has risen to 33% for the first time.”
More than half of Canadians (52%) say they have not consumed marijuana in Canada, while one third (33%) tried it before it was legal and 14% only did so after legalization.
Just over half of Canadians who have consumed marijuana since October 2018 (51%) say all of their product was acquired at a licensed retailer, while 40% say that “most”, “some” or “none” of their cannabis was bought this way.
More than half of marijuana consumers in Alberta (55%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (also 55%) and Ontario (53%) say all of their cannabis was bought at a licensed retailer. The proportions are lower in Quebec (49%), Atlantic Canada (47%) and British Columbia (39%).
More than three-in-five Canadians (63%, +5) think companies in Canada should be able to administer “drug tests” to any employee now that marijuana is legal.
The concept of “drug tests” at businesses is endorsed by 66% of Canadians aged 55 and over, 63% of those aged 18-to-34 and 60% of those aged 35-to-54.
Almost three-in-four Canadians (74%, +5) agree with the federal government providing expungement orders to people convicted of possession of cannabis for personal use with no intent to traffic.
Majorities of Canadians who voted for the Liberal Party (82%), the New Democratic Party (NDP) (77%) and the Conservative Party (75%) in the 2021 federal election are in favour of the strategy to destroy or remove any judicial record of a conviction for possession of cannabis for personal use with no intent to traffic.
As was the case last year, few Canadians are willing to legalize other drugs, including ecstasy (15%, +3), powder cocaine (14%, +2), heroin (12%, +2), crack cocaine (also 12%, +2), methamphetamine or “crystal meth” (also 12%, +3) or fentanyl (10%, +1).
Methodology: Results are based on an online survey conducted from October 13 to October 15, 2024, among 1,001 adults in Canada. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in Canada. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Find our data tables here and download the press release here.
For more information on this poll, please contact:
Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490
[e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca