Introduction:
Drugs have existed in human society since time immemorial. In modern society, the proper role of the law in connection with drugs has been vehemently debated. The legal status of various drugs in Canada is an ardently debated topic in the Canadian criminal justice system, in academia, and in the public sphere. Every country has its own set of laws and legal frameworks surrounding drugs, some not very effective, and others that do better at achieving their objectives. It is seen as a profound issue in many countries and some have found ways to find the best solution that fits best for their country, while others have not. In my opinion, Canada's criminal justice system currently has the incorrect legal framework and requires reform.
In Canada, drugs are presently illegal. In this paper, a comparative approach will be used to analyze decriminalization of drugs in regards to criminal justice reform, which is a shift away from the current legal framework of criminalization. It will first discuss the history of Canada and the Canadian legal system with regard to drugs. In particular, the case study of Canada and Portugal will be used to illustrate the differences in legal responses to drugs. It will look at the benefits of legislation and decriminalization in each respective country. It will then proceed to a description of the precise legal regimes that govern these drugs in both countries. It will then go on examining the effectiveness of the regime in both countries through empirical data. This will include an evaluation of the statistics on the cost of health care, law enforcement, processing through the criminal justice system for each country. It will briefly look at the burden to the health care system. Then it will compare the health risks, dependency and deaths that occur from commonly used illegal drugs vs. legal drugs in Canada. Finally, the paper will delineate the reasons for reform of the most commonly used drugs in Canada through decriminalization.
Canada (current situation on drugs):
Brief History of Drugs:
In the early 20th century, Canada's drug control legal framework was established. The first drug prohibition act was introduced in 1908 called the Opium Act . In 1929, the main tool to regulate and prohibit drugs and bring about a division between legal and illegal drugs was the Opium and Narcotic Act. Moreover, in the 1980s illicit drugs engagement incrementally increased, hence Canada's Drug Strategy was introduced to reduce and prevent the supply and demand of drugs . In 1996, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act was introduced as 'An Act respecting the control of certain drugs, their precursors and other substances and to amend certain other Acts and repeal the Narcotic Control Act in consequence thereof.' However, the use and the cost of criminalizing illicit drugs still continued to rise.
Drug Use:
In Canada the most commonly used drugs amongst Canadians ages 15 years and older is alcohol and tobacco . These drugs are also found to promote the greatest harm and cost. Furthermore, marijuana, considered illicit, has the least level of harm associated with it. Moreover, injecting drugs are found to promote the most direct harm and are obviously illegal. However, illicit drugs that result in indirect harm overshadow direct harm drugs, but this is not because of the drugs' use per se but rather due to the drug policy and legislations surrounding it .
Statistics:
It is clear that legal consumption of drugs in Canada outweighs the number of illicit drugs significantly. The overall consumption of tobacco in Canada in 2013 was recorded at 15%, which is equivalent to 4.2 million smokers and approximately 225,000 teen users . Alongside this, drinking and consumption of alcohol was 76%, representing 21.9 million Canadians. In contrast, illegal drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy and heroin reported a total of 11%, representing 3.1 million Canadians. Cannabis usage was estimated at less than 1%, Ecstasy at 0.4%, and heroin was not reported.