5.2 Drug Prohibition & the War on Drugs in Canada
The War on Drugs in Canada
Canadian drug policy was influenced by the war on drugs and drug criminalization policy more generally in the United States. Shortly after President Ronald Reagan declared a new war on drugs in the United States, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney attempted to do the same in Canada, stating in a press conference that “drug abuse has become an epidemic that undermines our economic as well as our social fabric” (Jensen & Gerber, 1993, p. 455). Canadian anti-drug policy, however, looked much different than the US war on drugs. This was in large part due to widespread skepticism about the claims made by Mulroney. According to Jensen & Gerber (1993, p. 461), “although a national policy was created, a drug problem was not constructed.”
Racism Within Canadian Drug Criminalization
- Researchers have demonstrated how the war on drugs has led to the enforcement of drug laws that are heavily racialized. Much of this discussion, however, is centered on the United States where a substantial proportion of individuals arrested and prosecuted for drug possession are African American and Latino, despite similar rates of drug use across the social spectrum (Owusu-Bempah & Luscombe, 2021).
- More comprehensive criminal justice data collection is required to better inform future Canadian social policy. According to Owusu-Bempah and Luscombe (2021), due to a lack of access to racially disaggregated criminal justice data, little is known about how race influences drug law enforcement in Canada and what measures are needed to redress the harms caused by the war on drugs.
- Drug policies need to be evidence-based. There is a growing consensus that substance use is a health-based issue, more appropriately addressed by the health-care system and harm reduction measures (Zhang, 2021) (See Chapter on Harm Reduction). However, when making the shift from a criminalization to health-care orientation, it is essential to conduct racial impact assessments to avoid the continuation of racial disparities in access to social institutions (Zhang, 2021), including treatment.
Click the link below to learn more about the racially biased legacy of drug policy in Canada:
Criminalization vs. Public Health: The Legacy of Canada’s Racially Based Drug Laws
VIDEO: Susan Boyd – Colonial History and Racial Stereotypes Are Deeply Entrenched in Canadian Drug Policy
In the following video Dr. Susan Boyd describes how Canadian drug policy has historically constructed, upheld, and reinforced colonialism and racial stereotypes, as well as how the effects of these policy choices continue to be felt today.
