40% of adults have used cannabis.

OTTAWA -- The argument over decriminalizing marijuana use and possession received a new spark as Statistics Canada presented a report on cannabis use.

The report indicates that more than 10 million Canadians or 41.3 per cent of the population 15 years or older tried cannabis at least once in their lifetime. Males were more likely to have tried it than females. The report was derived from data in the Canadian Community Health Survey, which was published in Health Reports, August 2004.

Among the findings are:

* use of cannabis has nearly doubled in thirteen years for Canadians aged 15 or older,

* almost half or 47 per cent of those who had used cannabis in the year prior to the 2002 survey had done so less than once per month,

* 10 per cent reported using it on a weekly basis and a further 10 per cent using it daily.

Cannabis use was most prevalent among young people with its use peaking in their late teens. The report also states:

* about three million youth aged 15 years or older had used marijuana or hashish at least once in the year,

* four out of every 10 teens aged 18 or 19 reported using marijuana or hashish in the past year,

* the proportion of users among 15 to 17 year-olds was three out of every ten.

In all but one age group males were more likely to use or to have tried cannabis in their life-times with 15.5 per cent of men reporting cannabis use compared to 9.1 per cent. The exception was for the age groups 15 to 17 years of age where there was no difference between the sexes in use of cannabis.

The survey also collected data regarding the use of five other drugs, including cocaine or crack, ecstasy, LSD and other hallucinogens, speed and heroin. Overall, 2.4 per cent of those aged 15 years or older reported using one of these drugs in the past year, which is an increase from the 1.6 per cent who reported using it in 1994. Cocaine or crack were the most commonly used drugs in this class of drugs with about 321,000 or 1.3 per cent saying they had used it.