First-Time Marijuana Use in Canada Doubles After Trudeau Legalizes Toking

(Bloomberg) -- Now that marijuana is legal, more Canadians are trying it.

According to a government report released Thursday, 646,000 Canadians said they tried cannabis between January and March. That’s almost double the 327,000 who reported toking for the first time during the same period a year earlier. Half of the new users were 45 and older.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government legalized recreational pot in October. One of its arguments in doing so was to displace the illicit production of the drug.

The latest figures from Statistics Canada show smokers are indeed dumping their dealers and taking above-board means to acquire weed. About 47 percent purchased cannabis from legal sources in the first quarter, more than double the proportion a year earlier. Still, 38 percent of users obtained cannabis from illegal sources, down from 51 percent in the same period last year. And just 23 percent of first-time users got their weed from illegal sources.

To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Hertzberg in Ottawa at eschmitzhert@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Theophilos Argitis at targitis@bloomberg.net, Chris Fournier, Stephen Wicary

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