Canadians are preparing for the day when they can smoke cannabis without breaking the law, but some of them have not been shying away from it as it is: Torontonians already light the equivalent of 141.7 million joints a year.
While the recreational use of cannabis will become legal all over Canada only on October 17, it's not stopping residents of Toronto, Canada's most populous city, from smoking it like there's no tomorrow.
A survey published by Environics Analytics on Thursday pointed out that, supposing all the weed consumed by the respondents came in joints, Torontonians smoke the equivalent of a mind-boggling 141.7 million per year. If the figure is too colossal to embrace, the researches give a more tangible equivalent – stacked up, they'd be as tall as 2,050 CN Towers, assuming an average roll is 8mm thick.
The CN Tower, a staple of Toronto's skyline, is 1,815 feet (533.33m) tall and is the world's third-tallest freestanding tower.
As recreational use is still not permitted, it means that respondents either use prescribed medical marijuana or smoke weed illegally. Forty-one percent of Canadians younger than 35 are intimately familiar with the plant, having smoked it at least once, according to the survey.
Despite the booming interest in cannabis in the run-up to its legalization, the majority of Torontonians, 54 percent of all residents, remain skeptical about the benefits of smoking pot, as they believe it has a negative impact on their home life.
The popularity of cannabis also varies along income and age lines. It has been the most popular with young, diverse single adults, living in high-rise apartments, and the least favored by Asian families in upscale neighborhoods.
Overall, about a third of the Canadian population above the age of 19 and older have consumed weed.
Canada became the first Western country to fully legalize cannabis on the national level in June, reversing a 95-year-old ban on recreational marijuana. The so-called 'Cannabis Act' allowed Canadians to both consume and cultivate the plant, although the home growing of marijuana is limited to four plants per household.
The government hopes that the soon-to-be-enforced legislation will allow it to suppress the flourishing black market, thus cutting off the flow of money to criminal gangs and organized crime.
Environics Analytics estimated that the value of the country's cannabis market stands at some $3.9 billion.
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