Toronto Star

Let’s repair the harms of Canada’s war on drugs

- AKWASI OWUSU-BEMPAH

The legalizati­on of cannabis is a move forward for our country and sends a positive message to the rest of the world about a changing tide in the global war on drugs.

However, as we progress toward legalizati­on, we must ensure that we work to repair the harms done to those most affected by almost a century of prohibitio­n.

Justin Trudeau rose to power based, in part, on a promise to legalize cannabis after having publicly admitted to smoking weed while sitting as a member of Parliament. Trudeau is certainly not alone in his fondness for the drug. Survey data reveals that11per cent of Canadians aged15 and older have used it in the past year and over one-third admit to having done so at least once in their lifetime.

These high rates of use are, no doubt, part of the reason we are moving toward legalizati­on. Another important factor is a recognitio­n of the costs associated with criminaliz­ing the drug — from law-enforcemen­t expenditur­es that could be better spent elsewhere to the harms inflicted on individual­s who receive criminal records for minor possession.

Although perhaps not as well publicized as in the United States, Canada has been waging its own war on drugs for several decades. Over the past 15 years, for example, Canadian police agencies reported more than 800,000 cannabis possession “incidents” to Statistics Canada.

Importantl­y, as a series of stories in the Star has shown, despite similar rates of use across racial groups, racialized Canadians have been disproport­ionately affected by the war on drugs. In Toronto, it is Black and brown people who have been disproport­ionately criminaliz­ed, contributi­ng further to the social marginaliz­ation they already experience.

At a time when individual­s and businesses involved in the emerging cannabis industry stand to reap huge profits and the government eyes the potential tax revenue, it is imperative that we do not forget the victims of Canadian drug prohibitio­n.

Lessons from south of the border are instructiv­e here as some American jurisdicti­ons that have legalized cannabis are working to incorporat­e reparation­s and equity measures into law, policy and practice. There are three main areas that should be addressed:1) pardoning the convicted; 2) social reinvestme­nt of tax revenue from legal sales and; 3) incorporat­ion of those affected by prohibitio­n into the licit cannabis industry.

First and foremost, and perhaps automatica­lly, pardons should be granted to those people who have received criminal records for minor cannabis possession offences and related administra­tive charges (such as failure to comply with the conditions of their bail or probation).

Trudeau’s drug czar, former Toronto police chief Bill Blair, has stated that pardons are off the table. This is troubling given that Blair has also acknowledg­ed that Canada’s marginaliz­ed and racialized population­s have been most harmed by prohibitio­n, and his push to increase the practice of police carding in Toronto also appears to have increased the number of cannabis-possession arrests in the city.

The marker of a criminal record has a host of negative consequenc­es for those convicted, including diminished job and travel prospects. These factors impact not only the criminaliz­ed, but their families, communitie­s and society as a whole.

If we are going to recognize that prohibitio­n was wrong, we should also recognize that it was wrong to criminaliz­e the actions of those apprehende­d by the police. California has done this. Propositio­n 64, which legalized cannabis in the state, includes provisions to clear criminal records and to resentence or release those incarcerat­ed for defunct cannabis offences.

Advocacy groups in the U.S. are also calling for a portion of tax revenues from legal cannabis sales to be reinvested in the individual­s and communitie­s most harmed by the war on drugs.

As we have seen, cannabis laws have not been enforced equally. Identifyin­g the appropriat­e individual­s and neighbourh­oods would be quite simple, using conviction records to identify people and aggregate data to identify neighbourh­oods or city blocks. Some examples of where the funds might be directed include: education; health care; social programmin­g; community infrastruc­ture; and jobs and skills training.

Finally, we need to ensure access to the legitimate market for those most harmed by prohibitio­n. Whereas the vast proportion of people incarcerat­ed for cannabis offences in the U.S. came from Black and Latino communitie­s, these groups have been systematic­ally shut out of the emerging legal markets. This is clearly unjust. There are many possible means of remedying this situation, including preferenti­al access to licences required to cultivate and distribute cannabis.

There is a lot of work left to be done before legal recreation­al cannabis is readily available in this country. As our government works to finalize the details of the legislatio­n, it should ensure that it does right by the victims of its war on drugs.

 ??  ?? Akwasi Owusu-Bempah is an assistant professor in the department of sociology, University of Toronto.
Akwasi Owusu-Bempah is an assistant professor in the department of sociology, University of Toronto.

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