Majority of B.C. residents support cannabis legalization, but not other drugs: poll

A BC Cannabis Store is seen in a CTV News file image.

Support for legalizing cannabis continues to grow across Canada, with B.C. ranking among the most supportive provinces, according to a new survey.

Vancouver-based Research Co. said most Canadians are in favour of the federal government’s decision to legalize marijuana, but that support does not extend to other drugs that are currently banned.

Research Co. conducted the online poll among a sample of 1,002 Canadians from Dec. 7 through 9.

The pollster found almost two-thirds of Canadians (65 per cent) agree with marijuana being legal in the country, while 29 per cent disagree, and six per cent are undecided.

More than seven-in-10 Atlantic Canadians (72 per cent) have no problem with legalization, while 65 per cent of respondents in B.C., Alberta and Ontario said the same.

The numbers were slightly lower in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (63 per cent), as well as Quebec (60 per cent).

The survey also found differences in support based on heritage.

More than half of Canadians whose heritage is South Asian (54 per cent) or East Asian (56 per cent) agree with marijuana being legal in Canada. That figure increased to 68 per cent among Canadians of European origins, and to 75 per cent among those with Indigenous ancestry.

Thirty-six per cent of Canadians also admitted to consuming marijuana before it was legal, while 15 per cent say they only tried it after it was legalized in October 2018.

Nearly half of Canadians (49 per cent) say they have not consumed marijuana in Canada, the poll found.

Of those who have used marijuana after legalization, 48 per cent say all of their cannabis was purchased from a licenced retailer.

Meantime, a slightly smaller proportion (46 per cent) said that “most,” “some” or “none” of their marijuana was purchased this way.

Nationally, the highest share of marijuana consumers who say they bought all of their cannabis from licenced retailers is in Atlantic Canada (60 per cent), followed by Alberta (58 per cent), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (52 per cent) and Ontario (49 per cent), according to the survey.

In B.C., that figure goes down to 42 per cent.

The survey found few Canadians agreed to legalizing other banned substances, with 14 per cent expressing support for the legalization of ecstasy.

Even fewer showed support for commercializing powder cocaine (12 per cent), crack cocaine (10 per cent), methamphetamine or “crystal meth” (also 10 per cent), heroin (nine per cent) or fentanyl (nine per cent).

When it comes to companies being able to administer drug tests to employees, more than three-in-five Canadians (64 per cent) were in favour.

“There is no political divide when Canadians are asked about drug tests for employees,” said Research Co. president Mario Canseco in a news release Monday.

“Majorities of respondents who voted for the Conservatives (69 per cent), the Liberals (68 per cent) or the New Democrats (58 per cent) in 2025 think the measure is justified now that marijuana is legal,” he added.

The results of the survey have been statistically weighted to match census figures for age, gender and region.

The margin of error, which measures sample variability, is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, according to Research Co.