Three years ago, Canada legalized cannabis – the first major country to do so. At first, it seemed like a momentous decision.
...
The goals of the Cannabis Act were threefold: to keep young Canadians away from the drug; to displace the illegal market and its attendant crime; and to get simple possession cases out of the criminal justice system.
Before legalization, Statscan estimated that 4.7-million Canadians 15 years of age and older had used cannabis at least once in the previous three months – about one in six people. That rose to 6.2-million reported users, or one in five people, in the most recent survey.
The biggest apparent increases were among people aged 35 to 44, and those 65 years of age and older. However, the pre-legalization figures may have been an understatement – given that Canadians were being asked to admit to something that was then illegal. Younger people are those most likely to use – pre-legalization, Statscan estimated that 33 per cent of those aged 15 to 24 had used cannabis in the past three months. But use doesn’t appear to have risen since then. Statscan’s latest estimate is that use among the youngest has fallen slightly, to 31 per cent.
On the second front – curbing the illicit market – things look promising. Legal cannabis eclipsed illicit bud in mid-2020 and the lead widened thereafter, according to Statscan. Legal sales so far have topped $6-billion, and industry has paid $1-billion in excise taxes. A recent Statscan survey finds that 68 per cent of users bought legal cannabis, up from 47 per cent soon after legalization. Statscan says the regulated market is now “better equipped” to compete on “price, convenience and selection.”
