Nova Scotians lead the country in cannabis consumption, says StatsCan

While B.C. may be known for its production of bud, Nova Scotianslead the country in cannabis consumption amongpeople 15 and older, accordingto Statistics Canadadata released Thursday.

Smoking recreational cannabis will be legal in Canada for those 19 and older starting Wednesday thoughedible cannabis products will remain illegal for the time being.

According to the third-quarter findings for Statistics Canada'snational cannabis survey, 23 per cent of Nova Scotia residents reported using cannabis, which was followed by B.C. at 20 per cent.

For the country as a whole, it worked out to 15 per cent of residents or 4.6 million people.

The province with the smallest proportion of residents who used cannabis was Quebec at 10.1 per cent.

The other provinces came in at:

• Alberta 17 per cent.
• Saskatchewan 15.7 per cent.
• Manitoba 18.9 per cent.
• Ontario 15.1 per cent.
• New Brunswick 13.8 per cent.
• P.E.I. 15 per cent.
• Newfoundland 16.1 per cent.

Statistics Canada also found that cannabis use was higher among males (18 per cent) than females (12 per cent) for the country. Use also decreased with age.

Using data from the first nine months of the year, Statistics Canada reported that 14 per cent of cannabis users with a driver's licence reported driving within two hours of using.

Previous data from Statistics Canada found that the province producing the most cannabis in 2017 was B.C., accounting for 36.6per cent of total production, followed by Quebec at 31 per centand Ontario at 22.7 per cent.

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