The reasons behind Quebec's surprising pessimism toward legalizing pot
One would think the province known for its joie de vivre and laissez-faire attitudes would have the most lenient stance toward the legalization of pot. But a recent survey shows the opposite is true.
Quebecers are far less optimistic about the legalization of marijuana than their counterparts in the rest of Canada, a CROP poll conducted on behalf of CBC's French-language network, Radio-Canada, shows.
For nearly every promised benefit of legalization, from the reduction of the black market to less stress on the justice system, people in Quebec were more skeptical than their counterparts elsewhere in the country.
The results even surprised CROP president Alain Giguère, a veteran pollster.
"My hypothesis was the opposite. I thought Quebec would be more tolerant," Giguère said.
Only 40 per cent of Quebecers said they were in strongly or somewhat in favour of legalization, compared to 58 per cent of other Canadians.
The survey interviewed 2,536 adult Canadians, 1,017...
