Daily marijuana use and daily cigarette smoking rates among young Canadians are virtually identical, according to a new study from the University of Waterloo.

The study, which surveyed the drug habits of 20,000 kids from Grade 7 to Grade 12, is believed to be the largest of its kind ever done in Canada.

It found that two per cent of students – equivalent to more than 43,000 people – reported using marijuana on a daily basis.

Similarly, 1.8 per cent of surveyed students said that smoking cigarettes was an everyday activity for them.

The survey also found what public health professor David Hammond termed a “strong correlation” between usage of the two drugs.

“Almost every youth who tried smoking tobacco had also tried using marijuana,” he said in an interview.

While the vast majority of survey respondents said they did not use marijuana every day, about 10 per cent reported use within the past month, and about 20 per cent said they had tried it at some point.

“They’re already using it, and a lot of them are using it a lot more frequently than they should,” Hammond said.

According to Hammond, marijuana use has been declining among Canadians in this age range over the past decade. It also seems to rise by age, with five per cent of Grade 12 students reporting daily use.

“Five per cent of Grade 12 students using every day – that’s probably too high by any standard,” Hammond said.

Hammond says the findings suggest that as the federal government moves forward with plans to legalize marijuana, they also need to come up with a plan to educate young Canadians about the drug’s dangers.