According to the report, the number of Canadians who said they used marijuana or hashish has nearly doubled, to 12.2 percent, over the past 13 years. In 1989, the rate was 6.5 percent.

The highest rates of use was found among teens, a finding that comes as no surprise to Edward Adlaf, a research scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. "We've been finding during the 1990s among students, and these are 7th-graders to 12th-graders, that fewer and fewer students perceive great risk in using cannabis," said Adlaf.

Despite the report's findings, Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh expects the government to move forward with its plan to decriminalize marijuana.

"My view is that, if you make something illegal, some people are more attracted to it," he said. "It's just the high in getting something in a stealthy fashion. If you allow people to possess it in small quantities for personal use, the allure kind of disappears for some people."

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