Ottawa, Ontario: Lifetime cannabis users are likely to be single, well educated, and earning an above average salary, according to a recent survey of 13,900 Canadians conducted by Health Canada and the Canadian Executive Council on Addictions.
Approximately 45 percent of the Canadian population over age 15 reported having used cannabis during their lifetime – up from 23 percent in 1989, the survey reported. Lifetime cannabis use increased with education and income. Among those with some post-secondary education, 52 percent reported having used cannabis. By comparison, among those without a high school degree, only 35 percent reported having tried cannabis. In addition, 55 percent of those respondents with a “high income adequacy” said they had used cannabis, as opposed to only 43 percent of those with a “low income adequacy.”
Among those who reported consuming cannabis, most said that they used it infrequently and did not “experience[e] serious harm due to their cannabis use.”
For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of NORML at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the survey is available from the Canadian Executive Council on Addictions website at:
http://www.ccsa.ca/pdf/ccsa-004028-2005.pdf