According to residents in the Greater Toronto area, legalizing marijuana would have a series of negative effects on the community and the country. A sizable majority believes that legalizing pot would have serious repercussions on Canada-U.S. relations and half believe it would cause workplace and street safety to worsen. GTA residents are more divided on the effects of legalizing this banned substance on Canadian’s Health and crime in general, with the largest minorities forecasting worsening health and divided on crime.

Members of the Greater Toronto community are less united in their reaction to Chief Fantino’s comments likening decriminalizing marijuana to legalizing murder. One third say Fantino should never have made those comments, while more than quarter either agree with Fantino or disagree with him but forgive him for saying it.

These are the key findings from a survey of 500 residents of the Greater Toronto area (GTA) conducted between October 22, 2004 and November 1, 2004. The margin of error for a study of the size is considered accurate to within 4.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20.