Amid a raging gang war in Metro Vancouver that is widely believed to be over control of the illegal drug market, a new Angus Reid Strategies poll shows that half of Canadians endorse the legalization of marijuana.

The survey results, released on March 5, also show that 64 percent of respondents in British Columbia want cannabis to be legalized.

However, the same poll found that less than eight percent of Canadians favour the legalization of hard drugs such as cocaine or crystal meth.

B.C. solicitor general John van Dongen was among the guests at the March 1 private screening of A Warrior’s Religion, a documentary dealing with gangs in the South Asian community.

“That is a federal issue and certainly the Conservative government has made their position clear that they’re not going there,” van Dongen told the Straight in an interview in the lobby of the Rio Theatre in East Vancouver, when asked if legalization is being contemplated.

“They’re looking at strengthening the legislation the Criminal Code,” van Dongen added.

The Angus Reid Strategies survey shows that there is high support among Canadians for toughened criminal legislation against gang activity.

“They’ve made some announcements in the last few days and the British Columbia government looks forward to working with the federal government and all the opposition parties to strengthen the compliance with the law with respect to gun and gang violence,” van Dongen said.

Other results of the Angus Reid Strategies survey:

”¢ Almost half of Canadians (48%) oppose the Stephen Harper government’s decision to scrap the previous government’s marijuana decriminalization legislation.

”¢ A majority (51%) also rejects the elimination of harm-reduction programs, such as supervised injection sites and needle-exchange programs.

”¢ Nine in 10 respondents support the introduction of a National Anti-Drug Strategy.

The on-line survey was conducted among 1,007 Canadian adults from February 26 to 27. It is considered to have a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.