Cannabis use among Canadians has increased significantly following legalization.
In the first three months of 2019, 5.3 million people in the country (18% of the population aged 15 or older) reported using cannabis, Statistics Canada data show.
That compares to 14% (4.2 million) in the first three months of 2018.
In British Columbia, the increase was fairly modest – from 17.1% to 19.1%.
Alberta showed a larger increase – from 16.6% to 21.5% – and became the province most partial to the drug, knocking aside Nova Scotia.
There was also a large increase in the number of people trying cannabis for the first time in 2019.
There were 646,000 first-timers in the first three months of 2019, compared to 327,000 in 2018.
About 514,000 people, meanwhile, reported that they use cannabis before starting work.
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