Cannabis legalization in Canada: the case for pardons and preferential licensing

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s proposed date for legalizing the recreational use of cannabis is fast approaching and the Senate is debating Bill C-45, the Cannabis Act. Given the social harms associated with drug prohibition, legalization cannot come soon enough. We also need to go further and right past wrongs by pardoning those convicted of minor cannabis offences and by giving preference to those most targeted by Canada’s war on drugs when we issue cultivation and distribution licences. Although unrecognized by many, the policing of cannabis and other drugs has been a priority for Canadian law enforcement agencies. According to Statistics Canada, Canadian police agencies recorded approximately 109,000 offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) in 2013, the most recent year for which comprehensive data are readily available. Of these, about 73,000 were cannabis-related cases and 59,000 were for possession. While many of these cases were cleared through police discretion (i.e. not taken to court), the number of people tried for simple possession was significant. Between 2008 and 2009 and 2011 and 2012, cannabis possession accounted for approximately 59,000 adult and 14,000 youth cases completed in our courts. Of these, 25,000 adults and almost 6,000 youth were found guilty. So, in less than half the time our prime minister has held office, more than 30,000 Canadians were branded with the marker of a criminal record for a “crime” committed by a significant proportion of the Canadian public, including Justin Trudeau when he sat as MP. Unfortunately, these 30,000 people joined a lengthy list of Canadians who, like them, face difficulties travelling overseas, volunteering at their local schools and finding meaningful employment due to minor cannabis offences. We are legalizing the drug in part for this very reason; we acknowledge the harms caused by its current illegality. As we move towards legalization we should not forget those who have already been affected. Former Toronto police chief and current Liberal drug czar, Bill Blair, has himself pointed out these people are more likely to be drawn from the young, impoverished, and otherwise marginalized—the very people that we should be trying to better incorporate into our society, not working to exclude from it. So how can we rectify this? By pardoning the convicted and providing opportunities for those personally affected by the war on drugs, as well as members of their communities, to benefit from a burgeoning industry. In the case of pardons, we should follow the example provided in Bill C-66, where the government erased the records of LGBTQ Canadians convicted of activities that are no longer illegal. These pardons should be automatically granted by the federal government and should extend to any subsequent charges stemming from an original cannabis related charge (failure to comply with the conditions of a probation order, for example). The latter are important as they serve to unnecessarily drag individuals further into the criminal justice system. The federal government also recently announced a plan to spur a “diverse and competitive” industry by establishing different tiers of licences required for participation in the legal market. This marks a departure from the current medical model, which has been dominated by well-funded, large-scale producers. Diversity in this market would be bolstered by creating a special class of licence for people previously convicted of cannabis crimes and those from neighbourhoods targeted by our war on drugs. Los Angeles took this approach as a way to introduce equity into California’s new recreational market. Canadians need to remember that our country stood at the vanguard of international drug law with its adoption of the Opium Act of 1908. This law, and many that followed, had a considerable negative impact on the very groups that their proponents so often purported to help. At a time when Canada once again stands at the forefront of international drug law, we should set an example to the world by providing redress for the harms we now know we have inflicted. Akwasi Owusu-Bempah is an assistant sociology professor at the University of Toronto. The Hill Times

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Cannabis legalization in Canada: the case for pardons and preferential licensing

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