Historique
Article de Périodique
Cannabis in Canada - a puzzling policy (1999)
Auteur(s) :
ERICKSON, P. G. ;
OSCAPELLA, E.
Année
1999
Page(s) :
313-318
Résumé :
Canada was one of the first nations to criminalise cannabis when it added it to the schedule of prohibited 'narcotics' in 1923. Since cannabis use was virtually unknown in Canada then, or for decades afterwards, Giffen et al. (1991) correctly termed it a 'solution without a problem'. A current, apt characterisation of our policy might be 'making the problem fit the solution,' as the existing law and apparatus of enforcement continually seek to shape the image and effects of cannabis use as a serious threat that justifies ongoing, harsh and determined punishment. There is a paradox here. Canada has a strong public health tradition and has tended to reduce social conflicts through fairly equal access to health care, education and social services. Canada was also one of the first countries to subject the appropriateness of the modern cannabis prohibition to intense scrutiny, in the Le Dain Commission (1969-1973), and to consider major reform of its laws. Reform, of course, never occurred. Another opportunity was lost during the construction of the new Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (1997). Canada seems committed to an approach that reaffirms an allegiance to criminalisation. [Extract]