Canadians trust pot producers less than banks, realtors and fast food companies: report

As Canada prepares to legalize marijuana, it’s clear that the industry hasn’t exactly engendered trust among residents of the Great White North.

That’s according to the CanTrust Index, a study by Environics Communications that measures Canadians’ trust in industries, organizations, business leaders and more.

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Marijuana producers enjoy the lowest level of trust (13 per cent) of any industry mentioned in the study — less than banks (39 per cent), fast food restaurants (27 per cent) and realtors (21 per cent).

Among provinces, the trust was lowest in Quebec, where only 10 per cent of respondents found marijuana producers trustworthy.

And that was in a province that was more trusting of many industries than any other province.

As a city, Montreal was least trusting of pot producers, at 10 per cent.

READ MORE: Pot legalization: seven questions that still need to be answered

The highest level of trust in pot producers was found in Western Canada, where 15 per cent of respondents found them trustworthy.

Among cities, the strongest trust in marijuana producers was found in Edmonton, at 18 per cent; it was 15 per cent in Vancouver.

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At 17 per cent, people aged 18 to 24 years old were most likely to find marijuana producers trustworthy; people aged 50 and older were the least, at 10 per cent.

Drugstores and pharmacies were the most trusted mode for distributing medical or recreational marijuana, at 51 per cent.

Privately-owned dispensary storefronts were the least, at 21 per cent.

Environics Communications derived its data from a “nationally representative” online sample of 1,500 Canadians that was carried out between Jan. 16 and 26.

READ MORE: Debate growing over drivers high on marijuana

Poll after poll shows that Canadians are largely supportive of legalizing marijuana — even if that doesn’t indicate a level of trust in pot producers.

An Ipsos poll conducted for Global News showed six out of 10 surveyed Canadians saying pot should be legalized for recreational use; 73 per cent of millennials aged 18 to 34 years old feel this way.

But what those numbers show is that Canadians think people “should not be going to jail or have a criminal record because of the fact they are using pot personally,” Ipsos Affairs CEO Darrell Bricker said.

That same poll showed that only 49 per cent of Canadians supported letting people grow marijuana at home.

Support for that idea was strongest in B.C., at 63 per cent. It was weakest in Ontario and Quebec, at 47 per cent and 37 per cent, respectively.

READ MORE: 6 in 10 Canadians support pot legalization, half support 21 as minimum age to buy: Ipsos poll

Respondents in that poll were largely supportive of the idea of selling pot at licensed marijuana stores (73 per cent).

Many (62 per cent) also supported selling marijuana at government-owned and -managed stores.

That was more than the 48 per cent who trusted government-run clinics or dispensaries to distribute recreational or medical marijuana in the CanTrust Index.