Most Canadians want pot laws relaxed, poll shows

Of the 3,000 respondents, 37.3 per cent said the government should legalize marijuana, while 33.4 per cent said the possession of small amounts should be decriminalized.

Only 13.7 per cent of respondents supported the status quo, while 12 per cent said they believe Ottawa should impose harsher penalties.

The Conservatives have made Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s pro-legalization stance a cornerstone of their recent attack ads, suggesting legalizing marijuana would make it the drug more accessible to children. But the poll numbers suggest more Canadians support Trudeau’s stance on marijuana, or the New Democrat Leader Thomas Mulcair’s support for decriminalization, than leaving the laws as is.

The Department of Justice commissioned the $175,000 Ipsos-Reid poll after the Supreme Court’s Bedford decision in December, which struck down certain prostitution laws as unconstitutional. The telephone poll focused almost exclusively on opinions on marijuana laws and prostitution, as did additional focus groups conducted by the pollster in seven cities.

While most respondents to the poll were in favour of loosening possession laws, the focus groups were less sure about the current laws and whether they should be changed.

“There was a great deal of confusion about whether the possession of small amounts of marijuana is a crime, a ticketable offence, or completely legal,” the report, which the Conservatives intended to withhold until the end of July, states.

“Participants often used the two terms ‘legalization’ and ‘decriminalization’ interchangeably and did not demonstrate a clear understanding of the distinction between the two.”