For a split second, the door to drug policy reform in Canada opened ever so slightly. But then Justice Minister Peter MacKay was quick to slam it shut: “We’re not talking about decriminalization or legalization.”
On March 5th, MacKay announced that the federal government is looking at changes to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act that would make it possible for police to issues tickets for possession of small amounts of cannabis.
The announcement follows last summer’s resolution from the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police asking the federal government to consider ticketing options. But it also follows Justin Trudeau’s considerably bolder endorsement of cannabis legalization. So I can’t help but wonder if this is a move to stem the Liberals’ rise in the polls.
MacKay’s proposal would allow police to issue tickets to people possessing less than 3 grams of cannabis. It’s a positive move in one way, because it means these cases will no longer be sent to criminal court. So otherwise law-abiding citizens will not be burdened with a record of criminal conviction, which can have serious implications for travel and employment.
But it also comes with the potential of a significant downside. In Australia, for example, similar measures resulted in a “net-widening” effect. That is, because it was easier for police to process minor cannabis offences, individual officers shifted away from using case-by-case discretion in giving informal cautions, to a process of formally recording all minor offences. The result was a significant increase in formal infractions, but no change in the pattern of cannabis use.
Still even if we assume MacKay’s changes hold promise, we need to be clear that these modest steps are not the endgame to a much needed overhaul to drug laws in this country – especially considering that jurisdictions bordering Canada are moving toward legalization. Is this is best Canada can do given the momentous changes taking place around the world?
Critics of legalization take pains to point out that cannabis can harm the health of its users. Of course it can! So can alcohol, but the lesson of alcohol prohibition is that an underground market is an unsafe market. The purpose of a legally regulated cannabis market is to ensure that we use the painful mistakes of alcohol and tobacco regulation to create the best possible approach to cannabis. Regulation rather than prohibition will make this substance safer, control its production and distribution, and ensure that at least some of the profits go to the public coffers.
The other problem with cannabis prohibition is that the effects of drug laws are inequitably applied to poor and Indigenous Canadians. And prohibition doesn’t keep cannabis out of the hands of kids. As Unicef’s 2013 report on the well-being of children in rich countries reveals, Canadian youth use the most marijuana compared to our economic counterparts around the world. Yet they use the third least amount of tobacco. What accounts for this second stat? A solid, legally regulated market that relies on stringent controls and education about the harms of tobacco.
It’s great that MacKay has taken a first step, but we need to keep moving toward a saner, safer approach to cannabis use. The CDPC is committed to talking with Canadians about the possibilities of cannabis regulation. To that end, in the coming months we’ll unveil proposals to help to build a regulatory framework that takes into consideration what we’ve learned from public health approaches to alcohol and tobacco. Canada can do better.
