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Based on data from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey--Mental Health, past-year and lifetime marijuana use among the household population aged 15 or older in the 10 provinces was examined. In 2012, 42.5% of the population reported having ever used marijuana, and 12.2% reported use in the past year. At 33.3%, the prevalence of past-year marijuana use was higher among 18- to 24-year-olds than among other age groups (20.0% at ages 15 to 17, 15.6% at ages 25 to 44, 6.7% at ages 45 to 64, and 0.8% at age 65 or older). Past-year use was higher in British Columbia and Nova Scotia and lower in Saskatchewan, compared with the rest of Canada. While the overall percentage of people reporting past-year use in 2012 was unchanged from 2002, the percentage of males who had ever used marijuana rose from 47.0% to 49.4%; among females, the prevalence of lifetime use remained stable at 36%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domestic consumption of hardwood products in the United States since 2000 has trended downward, making exports the single most important market for higher grade hardwood lumber and a major market for higher value hardwood logs. Between 1990 and 2011, hardwood lumber exports increased by 46%. During most of this period, Canada was the largest export market for U.S. lumber, but in 2009 China/Hong Kong became the most important market. Nearly 60% of the lumber exported in 1990 was red or white oak, but the proportion of exports of these species had decreased to 38% by 2011. By contrast, exports of yellow-poplar lumber increased by 381% over this period. The volume of hardwood logs exported grew by 62% between 1990 and 2011, and Canada remained the largest customer. Several factors can affect the export of hardwood lumber and logs. In the 1990s, changes in exchange rates and economic activity in importing countries could be linked with changes in lumber and log exports. Since 2000, China, Vietnam, and other East Asian furniture-producing countries have become important export markets as overseas manufacturers seek lumber of species familiar to U.S. consumers. Conversely, the large decrease in hardwood lumber and log exports to Canada between 2006 and 2009 coincides with a similar decrease in wood furniture imports from Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]