It’s a wet and cloudy April 20th, and as such many residents will be rolling up to work in their cars rather than using their bike. However, in a couple years time Canadians could expect to be rolling up something else due to the recently proposed Cannabis Act which, if passed, would legalize cannabis use and reform the criminal code with new laws and penalties.
According to the latest public opinion poll conducted by the Angus Reid Institute, more than six-in-ten Canadians (63%) say they support the proposed Cannabis Act.
However, a majority of Canadians polled believe the legislation with fail in achieving its three main goals.
The three main goals of the Cannabis Act include:
to keep cannabis out of the hands of children
to dissuade users from driving under the influence
to minimize the profit available to organized crime by undercutting their market share
According to the data, 66% of respondents expect the bill to fail in making it more difficult for people under the age 18 from using cannabis. Notably, responses to this question were almost identical among respondents with children and those without.
A narrow majority of those polled (51%) also said they believe the legislation will fail in preventing more people from driving impaired.
A slightly larger majority (55%) said they believe the new legislation will fail in preventing organized crime from finding ways to profit from the cannabis trade.
However, despite doubts that the legislation will be successful in achieving its three main goals, 58% of respondents said they believe cannabis legalization will do more good than harm.
Ultimately, those polled appear disjointed on the Cannabis Act: on the one hand Canadians are doubtful it will be successful in deterring children, preventing impaired driving and criminals profiting from the trade, on the other hand the majority are happy with cannabis becoming legal and believe it will do more good than harm.
