Baloney Meter: do Canadian youth smoke more pot than anyone else?
OTTAWA — “The reasons we set the minimum age of 18 are because we recognize that Canadian youth between the ages of 15 and 24 are among the highest users of cannabis in all developed countries. So we recognized that if we went with a higher age for a minimum age, we would not divert them from getting out of the black market. We wanted to make sure we did all we could because we want to prevent that from happening.”
— Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor, March 28, Senate social affairs committee
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The Liberals campaigned on a promise to legalize — as well as regulate and restrict — marijuana for recreational use, arguing the existing regime was doing little to keep it out of the hands of young people.