BRAUN: Canadians warming to legal pot shops, says poll

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Canadians are increasingly receptive to cannabis retail shops in their community, according to a poll commissioned by Weedmaps.

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Some 2000 adults were polled to see how attitudes toward cannabis have changed since legalization, and overall, 40% support the presence of stores in their area while 25% oppose them. Fully, one-third (35%) do not support or oppose the shops.

Weedmaps spokesperson Bridget Hennessey explained that familiarity with retail cannabis stores seems to engender support — those with a pot shop in their neighbourhood are now almost twice as likely to express support for the stores over those who don’t have one nearby.

“We are not seeing the backlash and negativity once expected when new retail stores open in neighbourhoods,” said Hennessey, who also noted she hears positive reports from consumers who visit the retail pot stores.

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Reasons given for support of retail stores include that they are good for the local economy. These legal outlets are also viewed as helping reduce the illicit market.

The majority (58%) of those polled agreed that the influx of cannabis stores had not changed their area and that cannabis stores have proven to be beneficial for their local communities.

Given these signs of local support following legalization, “we believe the cannabis industry is poised to boom following the COVID-19 pandemic and will serve as a significant job creator and economic driver in the years ahead,” added Hennessey.

(Maybe so, but according to a new report frommjbizdaily.com, Canadian cannabis producers have sold less than 20% of their production since legal sales began in October 2018. Poor quality cannabis is cited by some as the issue.)

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The majority of Canadians support legal cannabis, and that support (now 53%) continues to grow. About half (24%) remain opposed to legalization of cannabis.

Younger males are more likely to favour the sector.

According to the poll, cannabis consumption in Canada is growing. One-third of Canadians say they’ve consumed cannabis in the last year, and half of those people use cannabis at least once a week.

Cannabis use has increased since the pandemic began. Drinks and edibles are the two forms that have had the biggest uptick in usage.

Late last fall, legal purchases of cannabis finally outstripped illegal purchases. The biggest barriers to buying legal cannabis, according to the survey, are cost and lack of access.

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For all the support of stores, cannabis lounges are a far harder sell. The poll shows the public is polarized over lounges, with one-third opposing them, slightly more (37%) supporting them and 31% staying neutral.

Price, quality and THC content are listed by those polled as the three most important qualities when selecting a brand — but only 45% of cannabis buyers are confident in their ability to differentiate between strains, brands, or cannabis products.

Navigator conducted the poll of 2,000 adult Canadians from Jan. 13-19. Though not a purely random survey, a nation-wide probability sample of 2,000 respondents would yield a margin of error of 2.2%, 19 times out of 20.