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| You are here: Home > Features > Decriminalization
of Marijuana in Canada |
Social Change in Canada
Drug laws and the evolution
of Canadian society
It is difficult to say exactly what impact US opposition will have
on the Liberal government’s proposed legislation. The Canadian
government is loath to risk the lucrative trading relationship
between the two countries.
At the same time, the debate in Canada has moved beyond whether
smoking pot is good or bad. In many provinces decriminalization
will allow law enforcement and the courts to focus on breaking
organized crime syndicates that control most of the production
and distribution of illicit drugs. By contrast, to many, the “war
on drugs” that has been the focus of much publicity in
the US over the years, includes a misguided and ineffective attack
on the relatively benign social and health effects of smoking
marijuana .
The fact is that Bill C-17 is a long way from legalizing marijuana.
The expressed intent of the legislation is to avoid saddling
millions of Canadians with a criminal record, while continuing
to discourage the production and use of marijuana. Doubling penalties
for cultivating pot indicates that the federal government intends
to seriously tackle the expansion of grow operations across the
country. In this way, the move to decriminalize marijuana may
not represent as radical a liberalization of Canadian society
as many might think.
Socially conservative opponents, however, view efforts to decriminalize
marijuana in much the same light as the do recent moves to legalize
same-sex marriage. Such critics characterize both issues as an
assault on traditional values, arguing that liberal drug polices
open the door to a wider drug culture. They fear that Canadian
cities such as Vancouver – with an already significant
drug abuse problem – will become havens for drug tourism,
resembling an Amsterdam on the Pacific.
The Liberal government’s proposed legislation has yet to move
completely through Parliament and will face a number of obstacles.
Under a minority government, the Liberals will
require support from opposition members in Parliament. This may
be difficult; in the previous Parliament, the proposed marijuana
bill was one of the most hotly contested pieces of legislation.
In this regard, NDP House Leader, Libby
Davies, says her party plans to make changes to the
legislation. She says the new bill still allows for too
much enforcement for simple possession. In addition, she
stated the NDP is interested in proposing the bill include "some
provision for amnesty for the approximately 600,000 Canadians
who have a criminal record for simple possession of marijuana."
If Bill C-17 passes through Parliament, it will be a momentous event
in a history of debate over drug use in Canada. How much it might
impact the evolution of Canadian society, however, remains to
be seen.
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