3.6 Chapter Summary
Key Summary Points
- The attitudes and beliefs that influenced the development of early Canadian drug policy continue to influence our views about drugs, drug use and people who use substances (PWUS) today.
- The racist nature of early drug policies has shaped drug policy in Canada throughout the 20th and into the 21st century, with different racialized groups being constructed as PWUS and targeted through drug policy and enforcement.
- Although perspectives surrounding drugs began changing in the mid-20th century, prohibitionist-style drug policies have persisted well into the 21st century. There has also been a great deal of resistance to progressive understandings of drugs, drug policy and people who use drugs.
Additional Resources
Additional Viewings
York University – Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies. (November 23, 2010). Prohibition in Canada: Prof. Marcel Martel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dNw6o17UJI
Additional Readings
All About Canadian History (April 25, 2017a). The rise and fall of prohibition in Canada (Part one). https://cdnhistorybits.wordpress.com/2017/04/25/temperance-movement-in-canada/
All About Canadian History (May 9, 2017b). The rise and fall of prohibition in Canada (Part two). https://cdnhistorybits.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/prohibitionin-canada/
Belshaw, J. (2016). Chapter 7.7 Temperance & prohibition. In Canadian History: Post-confederation. Victoria, B.C.: BCCampus. https://opentextbc.ca/postconfederation/chapter/7-7-temperance-and-prohibition/
Campbell, R. (2008). Making sober citizens: The legacy of Indigenous alcohol regulation in Canada, 1777-1985. Journal of Canadian Studies, 42(1), 105-126. https://doi.org/10.3138/jcs.42.1.105
Eberts, D. (February 2007). To brew or not to brew: A brief history of beer in Canada. Manitoba History, 54. http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/54/beerincanada.shtml
Malleck, D. (2015). When good drugs go bad: Opium, medicine, and the origins of Canada’s drug laws. University of British Columbia Press. https://www.ubcpress.ca/asset/9359/1/9780774829199.pdf
Martel, M. (2014). Canada the good: A short history of vice since 1500. Wilfred Laurier University Press. https://tinyurl.com/ykfdma5e
