Marijuana Legalization In Canada Could Be On Horizon As Attitudes Mellow

[jumpincactus]

Smoke it, toke it, vape it, eat it — marijuana, it seems, is going mainstream.

Once widely reviled by society at large as the demon weed, medical-grade cannabis is now available through federally licensed growers with a doctor's prescription and even some highly respected health organizations are calling for the herb to be legalized and sold as a taxable commodity like alcohol, in government-regulated outlets.

At the same time, Canadians also appear to be softening their attitudes towards the drug.

"They see it as more normal," says Lorne Bozinoff, president and CEO of Forum Research, which found in an August poll that 66 per cent of almost 1,800 respondents across the country supported either complete legalization or decriminalization for possession of small amounts. Just 16 per cent wanted the laws left unchanged, while 14 per cent champion the notion of stiffer penalties.

"We don't get numbers like that in polling, where two-thirds of Canadians agree on the same thing," says Bozinoff.

"In any event, a huge, huge majority of people — excluding the prime minister — are OK with either the legalization with taxation or decriminalization of marijuana," he says, referring to the Harper government's tough-on-drugs stance.

- Read the entire article at The Huffington Post.