Professor ‘shocked’ after survey finds majority of Abbotsford approves legal pot sales
Posted August 30, 2018 10:16 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
ABBOTSFORD (NEWS 1130) – A local marketing professor says he’s “shocked” after a survey done by the City of Abbotsford found most residents are okay with the idea of recreational marijuana sales.
The month-long survey found 73 per cent of residents are okay with cannabis being sold in the city.
SFU marketing professor Lindsay Meredith says even though Abbotsford may be seen as that of an older, more conservative town, housing prices have come to change that.
“You have a huge influx, because of housing prices, of young people. Those people will probably tend to be more progressive, more inclined to use products like cannabis,” he says.
When asked if they supported or opposed the legalization of cannabis for non-medical use in Canada, 49 per cent said they “strongly supported” the idea.
More than 4,500 residents participated in the survey, which was open from June 26 to July 20.
He says that could translate into a fairly big segment of the market in Abbotsford who wouldn’t mind buying legal marijuana from a local shop.
“As long as that crowd keeps moving in there, you indeed could find you have a very, very powerful market segment out in the Valley,” Meredith adds.
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He says at some point, Abbotsford may even see a bigger market for the product than other cities such as Vancouver.
“Vancouver if anything, in the end, is probably going to have an ageing demographic less inclined to use the product.”
Abbotsford zoning and business licensing bylaws currently prohibit the sale of non-medical cannabis.
