4.6 Chapter Summary

Key Summary Points

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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

Below are a list of supplementary resources for students interested in learning more about the chapter topics. These resources are NOT required course materials

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

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Psychoactive Substances & Society (2nd Edition) Copyright © 2024 by Jacqueline Lewis & Jillian Holland-Penney is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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