Local 470 & 1670 Survey Findings

Dear members of Locals 470 and 1670,

With pending legalization of marijuana in Canada, NSGEU has been working to determine  the best model for distribution and sales in Nova Scotia. As part of this project we undertook two surveys in early 2017 to gauge opinions of both our membership and the general public. Before taking a public position, we want to share our findings with you – members of NSGEU NSLC Locals 470A/B/C/D/E/W and Local 1670.

Between January 26 to February 20 2017 there was an active survey and we received a total of 358 responses.

Here’s what we heard from you:

79% of our members support the regulation and restriction of access to non-medical marijuana with 21% opposed.  As well, 70% of our members would support the regulated sale of marijuana through NSLC stores, 92% would support the sale through publically controlled stand-alone marijuana dispensaries, private sales through private dispensaries comes in at 35% and private drug stores came in at 51%.

Public Opinion

In addition to polling our own members, NSGEU purchased two questions in the Winter 2017 Corporate Research Associates (CRA) Atlantic Quarterly Poll to find out what Nova Scotians more broadly think about selling legalized marijuana.

The CRA survey took place between February 2 and 28, 2017.

In the first question we asked: When marijuana is legalized, where should it be sold?

64% of Nova Scotians believe legalized sales should take place in stores owned and regulated by government, such as NSLC stores and only 22% supported that sale through private for profit stores.

The second question asked: Should the sale of legalized marijuana  take place in current NSLC stores or new stand-alone stores. 40% preferred current NSLC locations while 49% felt that it should be sold through new NSLC controlled stand-alone locations.

Marijuana is not an ordinary commodity and should not be sold as one. Our research shows a high level of support for a controlled and regulated sale of marijuana through NSLC’s existing structure. NSGEU will work with the employer and government to create a framework to maintain public safety and social responsibility.

You can see the full survey analysis details here.