Following in the wake of Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s support for legalizing pot as well as an admission that he’s taken a “puff” since becoming an MP, other big names are talking about their own history with marijuana.
On Wednesday, Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne admitted she smoked a joint — 35 years ago, before she was elected to provincial parliament.
The Canadian Press reports she couldn’t say whether she was on board with Trudeau when it comes to legalization and would want to discuss the pros and cons first.
Later on, Toronto mayor Rob Ford was asked at a presser if he’s smoked marijuana and said not only that he had, but that he’d smoked “a lot of it.”
Although that admission should come as no surprise given that in 1999 he was arrested in Miami for drunk driving and marijuana possession.
The Huffington Post Canada recently asked NDP leader Tom Mulcair and Prime Minister Stephen Harper about their marijuana use. Mulcair said he has in the past, but refused to say when. Harper has never even tried pot due to asthma, his office told HuffPost.
Although certainly a current hot topic, Canadian politicians have often been quizzed on whether or not they use, or have used, marijuana.
Politicians who have admitted to at least trying marijuana (even if they didn’t like it) include:
- Jim Flaherty, Conservative Minister of Finance
- Stockwell Day, former Conservative cabinet minister
- Jack Layton, late leader of the NDP
- Dalton McGuinty, former Liberal premier of Ontario
- Brad Wall, premier of Saskatchewan
According to the Centre for Addition and Mental Health, 44 per cent of Canadians have tried marijuana at some point in their lives. The 2007 World Drug Study, Canadians smoke pot at four times the world average. Canadian teens also smoke more pot than any other country’s youth in the developed world, according to the World Health Organization.
In short, Canadians like pot — and so do our politicians.
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