Reform in Canada Pretense & Perils

the current popularity of cannabis as a recreational drug
increased public support for liberalization of cannabis laws for both medical and
recreational purposes
cannabis-related harm is potentially serious but the most serious harm is experienced
by a relatively small proportion of users
failure of the criminal justice approach to curtail cannabis use and related harm
the additional social harms that arise from our criminal justice approach
the importance of implementing a reform model that places priority on public health
considerations.
These acknowledgments were consistent with points made in earlier reports from
national health policy organizations including The Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
(Carter & Macpherson, 2013) and The Canadian Public Health Association (2014).
The CAMH Framework (Crepault, 2014) earned widespread attention for overtly
recommending legalization, a call that was eventually echoed by the Canadian Medical
Association (Spithoff et al., 2015). In 2015, The Rand Corporation in the US released a
report (Caulkins et al., 2015) which reviewed twelve approaches to cannabis law reform,
describing the merits and perils of each. Rand did not recommend any particular
approach, but did issue an overarching warning that jurisdictions should not rush from
prohibition to commercial legalization, and should take the time to review other options
before choosing a path.
The CAMH Framework took a different approach by juxtaposing the models of
decriminalization and legalization as incompatible competitors within an oppositional
framework, thereby forcing a choice of a lone path for cannabis law reform. There were
two groups of observations that led to the Framework’s recommendation of legalization
over decriminalization.
1) The contraband cannabis trade is characterized by dangerous criminality, cannabis
product of uncertain integrity, risk to the safety and propriety of users, and the retention
of all revenue in the hands of criminals; decriminalization does nothing to dislodge the
contraband trade.
2) A legal, government-regulated cannabis industry would provide safe product, protect
public health, safety and propriety, and provide revenue for a new industry, for
government, and for worthy causes; the contraband trade “should shrink significantly
and potentially disappear.” (p.11)
After his successful election campaign, Prime Minister Trudeau followed through on his
promise in earnest, establishing a Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and
Regulation, which was charged with consulting with experts and other Canadians, and
issuing a report to government. To orient interested Canadians to the issue, the Task
Force released a Discussion Paper in June of 2016 (Task Force on Marijuana
Legalization and Regulation, 2016). Canadians were invited to submit their thoughts
and advice through an online template which was available during July and August. The
Discussion Paper acknowledged that it was a work in progress and was written, in part,
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