Canadian children 'smoke more cannabis than any others in the developed world'

Marijuana smoking is most prevalent among young people in Canada, according to a recent UNICEF study.

Report Card 11, published on April 10, revealed that young people in Canada were first on a list of 29 developed countries when it came to smoking cannabis.



Of the 11-15 year olds that were surveyed, 28 per cent in Canada had smoked the drug at least once in the last year.



Lighting up: A new study by UNICEF found that Canadian teenagers smoked the most marijuana out of a list of 29 countries

The UNICEF research also found that countries which had stricter drug laws had higher rates of children who had tried marijuana.



However overall, Canada ranked 17th on the list for its youth well-being compared to the U.S. which finished at number 26 - only above Lithuania, Latvia and Romania as the worst place for children to grow up.





Lack of education, cost of healthcare, childhood obesity and teenage pregnancies were analyzed to show which countries came out as the best overall to raise a child.

Despite being the seventh richest country in the world, the U.S. had some of the worst rates for teenage pregnancies, homicide and childhood obesity.

The study focused on five different dimensions - material well-being, education, health and safety, behaviors and risks and housing and environment.

Factors such as poverty, infant mortality and homicide rates were also taken into consideration.



For behaviors and risks, teenage pregnancies, smoking cannabis, bullying, obesity and exercise taken were all factored in.



