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Fewer tobacco smokers across NWT

Philippe Morin
Northern News Services
Monday, May 21, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Smoking cigarettes is becoming less popular across the NWT, reports territorial statistician Angelo Cocco.

Yet, roughly four out of ten people still enjoy cigarettes.

"We can see good solid trends, and the trends are downwards. When you compare the 2002 results to the 2006 results, the prevalence is down," he said.

Cocco added a decline in smoking has been seen across all age groups and ethnic categories, among both men and women.

"Overall it was 45.7 per cent in 2002, and it was 40.8 percent in 2006," he said.

While the trend might be clear, Cocco admitted the pace of change is relatively slow, at about one percent a year.

There also exists an imbalance, which sees young men smoking more.

Across the NWT, 44.4 per cent of men describe themselves as current smokers, while 37 per cent of women say the same.

The prevalence among youth aged 15 to 24 is the highest, with 45.7 per cent describing themselves as current smokers.

The 2006 NWT Addictions survey was recently compiled by the NWT Bureau of Statistics, and is available online.

What about marijuana?

"Marijuana is a little funny," reports Cocco.

It's not a comment on being high, but rather an observation of how drug use is difficult to measure for statisticians.

While alcohol and tobacco are enjoyed by a large percentage of the population, Cocco said, marijuana is more difficult to quantify.

"Marijuana and hashish, overall, we're looking at about 19 or 20 percent saying they've consumed in the past year. But there is still some variability," he said.

One factor is the crowd chosen for surveys.

If too many - or too few - marijuana enthusiasts are included in a sample group by chance, Cocco said, the results of the survey might be skewed.

"Because you have to have a representation of the whole population, you'd need a large sample survey for it to be meaningful," he said, adding the 2006 NWT addictions survey had 1,235 respondents.

Despite these problems, Cocco said there is much that can be learned about marijuana use in the NWT.

For starters: Weed is increasingly popular.

Among young people 15 to 25, the total number of people who had smoked pot in the past year is now 35 per cent - more than one in three.

If we include older age groups, the number lessens.

However, across the entire NWT, more than one in four men -- 26 per cent -- report smoking marijuana at least once in the past year.

The number is 13 per cent of women.

Does this mean marijuana is getting accepted into the mainstream? Or have a few people over-represented pot use in the survey?

As Cocco said, it's too hazy to know for sure.

But one thing is for certain: marijuana is being used in the NWT.

"The numbers can jump around a little bit, but it's significant when you look at the percentage of people who report it," Cocco said.