Statistics Canada Reveals Dropping Rate In Marijuana Use Among Teens, Young Adults In Canada

A new report released on Wednesday by Statistics Canada suggested the rate of marijuana use among teens and young adults has been decelerating.

Published in the monthly Health Reports, Statistics Canada informed the percentage of teens between 15 and 17 years old who admitted having used marijuana fell to 25 percent in 2012 from 40 percent in 2002. It also found that the percentage of 15 to 17-year-olds used marijuana in the past one year fell 30 percent over the 10-year period.

Michelle Rotermann, a senior analyst with the statistical agency and co-author of the report, said there's a drop in marijuana use to 54 percent among the 18 to 24-year-olds who reported having used the drug at least once. The last figure recorded was 62 percent.

The information on the new report was gathered from the responses of over 25,000 Canadians aged 15 and older who took part in the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey on mental health. This sample is considered equivalent to 28 million Canadians aged 15 years old and above.

Rotermann told the Canadian Press they also found out that it is the males who more often take marijuana than the females. It is a fairly consistent finding, she said, noting that male use of marijuana is common by 50 percent.

The report noted over 49 percent of the males had used marijuana at some point in their lives, compared to only 36 percent of females. Moreover, daily use was prevalent among the males, where 2.4 percent reported using marijuana daily, double the percentage of females who reported daily use.

Some other findings:

· In 2012, 12 percent of respondents reported using marijuana in the previous year, and 42.5 percent reported having used it during their lifetime.

· Residents of British Columbia (15 percent) and Nova Scotia (16 percent) reported more past-year use than the national average, while Saskatchewan residents reported less, 10 percent.

· Two percent of people said they use marijuana daily and 3 percent said they used it at least weekly.

· Marijuana use was more common among city dwellers than among people who lived in rural Canada.

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