Do you smoke pot? According to stats I saw this week, 12 per cent of Ontario residents 15 and over smoked marijuana at least once over a recent 12-month period. Which is about 1.3 million Ontarians. Or about 130,000 people here in York Region.
This is according to Statistics Canada’s Canadian Community Health Survey for 2012, which asked Canadians over 15 if they used cannabis or hash.
Keep in mind these were only the people willing to admit to using pot.
The real numbers could be a lot higher, pardon the pun, considering this is a type of behaviour not everyone would readily admit to on a government form.
For political prognosticators, that’s a lot of Justin Trudeau supporters. Maybe that’s why Stephen Harper’s poll numbers seem to be going up in smoke.
And here I thought some people were just really happy, really hungry, or had the giggles.
Next time someone laughs at one of your jokes, you’ll be tempted to ask, “Did you actually think that’s funny, or are you just high?” And stop eating those Cheesies.
Obviously it can’t be just teenagers, whose current slang words for cannabis or getting high – according to this thing called Google I have on my computer – include to get blazed, chief, burn one, bent, kush and, well, by the time someone like me is using them in a community newspaper, they may already be obsolete.
Point is, considering the stats, there must be professors, lawyers, MPs ( such as the aforementioned Mr. Trudeau ), journalists, the Ford family, and many others out there, who you would not think of as your typical pot smokers, who are, in fact.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have a whole lot against people who smoke up.
They used to bother me more, when I thought of all the mayhem created by the people growing the pot, with law enforcement chasing them – all in the quest to supply herbal refreshment to people who rationalized that their little illegal indulgence was harmless.
But as the pot laws become more relaxed, particularly in the U.S., the people who smoked up despite the laws and the negative consequences for society, seem a little less selfish, a little more mainstream.
Things are being legalized, taxed, in some U.S. states, including Colorado and Washington. In Canada, we are just getting a sniff of this brave new world.
So now, there is a rush by all kinds of people to get into Canada’s “medical” marijuana business. Why?
Because of several recent court decisions, the projection in the next few years is that up to 400,000 Canadians will have gotten themselves permits to use medical marijuana, as in daily, up from 40,000, which now must be supplied by government approved growers ( think $ signs ), with Canada’s doctors forced to take part in the approval process for “patients”.
This despite what the Canadian Medical Association says is a lack of scientific evidence that marijuana is anything other than a recreational drug, even if it is, anecdotally – for some – helpful dealing with illnesses that cause pain or seizures. Fine. But 400,000 people?
Maybe, like the U.S., it’s time to give everyone the right to smoke pot ( responsibly – no driving ) and leave the doctors and Ottawa out of it. Something to put in your bong and smoke before the next federal election.
