Experimental statistics from an unlikely source In March 2018 Statistics Canada began data collection on an entirely new frontier. We are sampling wastewater. A literature review of wastewater epidemiology yielded the methodology for measuring the concentrations of metabolites in municipal wastewater systems and back-calculating the consumption of the parent drugs by the human population contributing to the wastewater catchment area. A pilot project was undertaken, primarily to test the feasibility of calculating the consumption of cannabis in five Canadian cities. This work explores the potential for passive monitoring of cannabis use to reduce dependence on self-reporting, and ultimately reduce response burden. The same methodology can be used for estimating the consumption of other drugs, further improving our ability to monitor health risks and illicit economic activity.