A plurality of Ontarians oppose selling marijuana in LCBO outlets despite comments from Premier Kathleen Wynne arguing that it would be a logical fit, a new poll has found.
In an interview with CP24 last week, Wynne said that the LCBO would be a “good network” for legalized marijuana sales because it is a “trusted institution” that already has infrastructure in place to restrict access to its products and sell them responsibly.
A province-wide poll conducted by Forum Research, however, has found that the idea may not be widely supported by Ontarians.
The Forum poll asked respondents whether they approved or disapproved a number of potential ways to distribute the drug.
The most popular idea proved to be specialized marijuana dispensaries with 57 per cent approving of the plan, 32 per cent disapproving of it and 11 per cent responding that they didn’t know.
The prospect of selling marijuana in LCBO’s proved more divisive with 47 per cent saying they opposed it, 44 per cent saying they approved of it and 10 per cent responding that they didn’t know.
Meanwhile ideas like selling marijuana at convenience stores (80 per cent disapproved) or allowing private individuals to sell it (72 per cent disapproved) were particularly unpopular.
Selling marijuana at the LCBO tended to be more popular among residents between the ages of 18 to 34 (56 per cent approval) while those between the ages of 45 and 54 were most likely to oppose it (55 per cent disapproval).
“Basically everyone 35 and older does not want marijuana sold in LCBO’S because they are not into that drug,” Forum Research President Lorne Bozinoff told CP24.
More residents would use marijuana if legalized
In a speech from the throne earlier this month, the new Liberal government promised to “legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana”
The poll from Forum Research found that 56 per cent of respondents approve of that idea compared to 36 per cent who oppose it.
The poll also found that legalizing the drug may not result in a significant jump in usage.
If legalized, the poll found that 22 per cent of respondents indicated likelihood to use the drug in the next year. That is compared to 17 per cent who said they had consumed marijuana in the last year.
Those between the ages of 18 and 34 were the most likely to use marijuana with 29 per cent saying they had done so in the last year and 39 per cent saying they would do so in the next year if legalized.
“Just going from a 17 to 22 per cent would be hardly noticed but this is a huge jump among younger people and I don’t know if that is well known among those in favour of legalization,” Bozinoff told CP24. “It is something to think about it. With that majority who say they are in favour of legalization I don’t know if they know the extent of it among young people.”
Supporters of the NDP (30 per cent) and Liberal party (24) per cent were the most likely to use legalized marijuana while supporters of the Progressive Conservative party were less likely (11 per cent).
The telephone poll of 1,003 Ontarians was conducted on Sunday and is considered accurate to within three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
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