Cannabis use among Canadians aged 65 and older has dramatically increased since legalization last year, according to Statistics Canada’s quarterly National Cannabis Survey.
While the total number of Canadians who use cannabis has remained largely unchanged, nearly twice as many baby-boomers and prior generations have reported using the substance, up from 3% in mid-May to mid-June 2018, to 5% over the same period in 2019.
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Meanwhile, rates of use among Canadians aged 15 to 64 remain relatively the same as last year, with the highest rate appearing among residents aged 15-24 (35.1%) followed by people aged 25-44 (30.3%).
In total, Statistics Canada estimates that 4.9 million people — or roughly 16% of all Canadians aged 15 and above — have used cannabis in the past three months.
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Perhaps surprisingly, while British Columbia is known for its BC Bud and cannabis use, other provinces actually reported a higher rate of cannabis use than the West coast.
The province that had the highest rate of use was Nova Scotia, where a whopping 24% of the population above 15-years-old reported using cannabis over the past three months.
Meanwhile, Alberta recorded the second highest rate of usage, with a total of 20% of the population using the substance.
BC was close behind its neighbour, with roughly 17.9% of its population having used cannabis in the past three months.
Meanwhile, the province with the lowest rate of use was Quebec, with just 10% of the population partaking in cannabis consumption this summer.
Statistics Canada’s complete National Cannabis Survey for the second quarter of 2019 can be found online here.
