NCJ Number
226622
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice Volume: 51 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2009 Pages: 73-91
Date Published
January 2009
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This paper updates and reviews developments in Canadian cannabis policy between 2003 and 2008.
Abstract
The author reviews the provisions of Bill C-38 and its successors, and describes the bills’ movements through Parliament as well as the positions of key interest groups regarding the decriminalization of minor cannabis possession. The paper concludes with reflections on the contemporary period, showing that Canada’s “saga of promise, hesitation, and retreat” in cannabis law reform continues. Bill C-38 proposed to decriminalize the possession of less than 15 grams of cannabis and less than 1 gram of hashish by making it a contravention under the Contraventions Act. Possession of small amounts of cannabis would remain illegal, but would no longer constitute a criminal offense. Fines were to range from $100 to $400. The penalties for possession of 15 or more grams of marijuana or one or more grams of hashish would remain the same. In addition, Bill C-38 included provisions that toughened penalties for marijuana cultivation. Maximum sentences were increased and penalties were scaled so that they became progressively harsher with the seizure of larger quantities of marijuana plants. Bill C-38--Canada‘s second attempt to decriminalize minor cannabis possession--died before it could be passed into law. Although similar bills were later proposed (Bills C-10, C-23, C-17, and C-16), Prime Minister Stephen Harper of the Conservative Party of Canada (elected in 2006) announced on April 3, 2006, that he opposed the liberalization of marijuana law, citing the need to protect Canada’s children. Although there have been brief periods in which a social and political context favored cannabis-law liberalization, the efforts to advance the bills through Parliament have continued to falter under the weight of passionate opposition unmatched by advocates of decriminalization for possession of small amounts of cannabis. 1 figure, 5 notes and 25 references