Pot possession charges 3 times more frequent in Edmonton than Calgary

Police in Edmonton laid nearly three times as manycharges for possession of marijuana in 2014 than their counterparts in Calgary.

• Vote Compass: Majority of Canadians support softer marijuana laws
• Police report a pot possession incident every 9 minutes in Canada
• Shatter marijuana derivative increasingly worries Calgary police

It's just one finding of a CBC News analysis of the latest data from Statistics Canada on charges for pot possession in 34 Canadian cities.

The per capitanumbers show 37 out of 100,000Calgariansfaced charges for pot possession in 2014, a number thatjumped to94 in Edmonton.

The statistics show Kelowna registered the most charges last year, withSt. John's loggingthe fewest.

"Looking at British Columbia, it's no surprise that the Okanagan region sees higher levels, but there's a lot of illegal grows that are going on there," saidMount Royal University criminologist Kelly Sundberg.

He says thegap between Alberta's largest citiescould be due to realities on the street.

Different attitudes?

"The attitudes between the police in Calgary and Edmonton may be a part of this but theremight be ...different drugs being used in Calgary as opposed to Edmonton," he said.

Calgary cannabis activist KeithFaginsays lower numbers in some cities may also boil down to more officers using discretion.

"It's a 14-year-old, or it's a 16-year-old, or it's an adult trying to get an education and become something," he said.

Sundberg says many opinionstowards cannabis haveliberalized in Canada, but the numbers showCanada-wide marijuana possession charges rose about 30 per cent between 2006 and 2014 as the federal government took a tougher line on drug possession.

Both the Calgary and Edmonton police services have declined to dointerviews.