A new survey by residential real estate company Zoocasa says most Canadians feel that smoking cannabis inside their homes is a bad idea.

The survey found that 64 per cent of homeowners felt that lighting up would harm a home’s resale value. Also, 57 per cent felt that growing the legal amount of cannabis, which is up to four plants, would also have a negative impact on a home’s value.

The survey indicated that 52 per cent of respondents say they’d be less likely to consider specific houses for sale if they knew even a legal amount of cannabis had been grown in them.

Here are some of the other key findings from the Zoocasa survey:

• 15 per cent of all respondents indicated they would consider in-home cannabis cultivation;
• 19 per cent of millennials, 15 per cent of generation Xers, and 11 per cent of baby boomers would consider in-home cannabis cultivation;
• only 38 per cent of millennials indicated that a legal amount of cannabis grown in a home would reduce their desire to buy that property, compared to 58 per cent of gen Xers and 59 per cent of boomers;
• of homeowners who agree home cultivation would harm home values, only six per cent would take the risk of doing so;
• 46 per cent of respondents who indicated they are renters agree smoking cannabis in a home would devalue their unit; 33 per cent disagree; 20 per cent are unsure;
• 61 per cent of Canadians agree residents should not be able to smoke cannabis within their units;
• nearly half of all respondents (42 per cent) feel having a cannabis dispensary in the neighbourhood would harm the value of nearby homes; 34 per cent disagree and 23 per cent were neutral.

The legalization of cannabis comes into effect on Wednesday in Canada with retail outlets opening across the country. Municipalities have enacted their own legislation on where public consumption can take place.

Mario Toneguzzi is a veteran Calgary-based journalist who worked for 35 years for the Calgary Herald, including 12 years as a senior business writer.

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