Drug Decriminalization In Canada

The police reported drug crimes has risen 42% since the early 1990’s (Grant, 2009). Cannabis being the highest charge rate. 72% of the charges were possession charges (Grant, 2009). Canada is second to the United States with the highest number of drug arrests per capita (Grant, 2009). 508/909 federally charged women were sentenced to conditional release in 2006 (Grant, 2009). However, in Canada, under the drug enforcement policy there is no mandatory minimum sentence on drug offences (Grant,

The cost of substance abuse in Canada is astronomical. According to the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA), in 2002 alcohol accounted for about $14.6 billion and illegal drugs for about $8.2 billion in social cost (Single, Robertson, Rehm, & Xie, 2002). This cost was measured in terms of the burden on health care and law enforcement, and productivity in the workplace or home. Arguably, the greatest cost may be immeasurable: human suffering and tragic loss of lives. This suffering is not limited to only of those wrestling with these problems, but extends those around them: family, friends, co-workers and society as a whole.

Proponents on the legalization of drugs believe if drugs were to become legal; the black market worth billions of dollars would become extinct, drug gangsters would disappear, addicts would stop committing crimes to support their habit and the prison system would not be overwhelmed with a problem they cannot defeat. The decriminalization of drugs will only make illegal drugs cheaper, easier to get and more acceptable to use. “The U.S. has 20 million alcoholics and alcohol misusers, but only around 6 million illegal drug addicts. If illegal drugs were easier to obtain, this figure would rise”(Should Drugs be decriminalized? No.November 09, 2007 Califano Joseph A, Jr).”

In Canada, the amount of illegal drugs on the street increased by 89% in the last 10 years and expenditure from illegal drug sales are over $7 billion dollars annually. It is no doubt that Canada is in the midst of a war on drugs, but is Canada’s current approach working? In 2011, the mandatory minimum sentencing for drug possession doubled, and didn’t include legislation for those special circumstances, such a mental illness.

The ethical implications of the Canadian government funding and supporting these projects, considering current drug laws and policies, are questioned by some. People believe that the government should not participate in enabling drug use (Globe & Mail, (2011) and that zero tolerance approaches should be taken. In opposition to zero tollerance attitudes some

We also have to ask if we are in line with Canada's Drug Strategy definition of harm reduction, which, in general, is to lower sickness, death, social misery, crime, violence and economic costs. Has it reduced the harms associated with alcohol and drugs to individuals, families and communities or is the drug still in control? Some effects of drugs are too powerful to manage. Paranoia, a common effect of cocaine use, can cause violent and erratic behavior. Sometimes users experience 'coke bugs': imaginary bugs crawling over their skin. Heroin causes euphoria, which is followed quickly by sadness,

People today are blinded by the clouds of drugs. Just within the 2015 year over, 47 thousand Canadians deaths were linked to substance abuse. Canadians are aware of the dangers connected to taking part in this practice, however, we do not want to accept it.

The issue of drug policy is one that has plagued our society for decades now, and will continue to linger until we finally become proactive make some bold decisions. With over twenty thousand deaths each year, in Canada alone, due to illicit substances , this is a problem that must be addressed immediately. Many people know where to turn when they have alcohol addiction issues, most turn to Alcoholics Anonymous for example. Smokers are also offered many incentives and advertisements that deter smoking and help them in their struggle to quit. But, there has been no major campaign or well known foundation to seek help in if you are having problems with other drugs such as heroin, cocaine, LSD, or marijuana. Our problem in Canada is that these drugs are seen as merely a judicial and criminal issue, rather than a public issue which affects each and every one of us in society. In this essay, I will prove that the decriminalization, by the government of all drugs and implementing education on drugs instead will lead to a decline in drug related deaths and social issues.

We should decriminalize drugs in the U.S. instead of legalizing them. Decriminalization refers to the lessening of criminal penalties of certain acts. According to De Marneffe, “… the legalization of drugs … [is] the removal of criminal penalties for the manufacture, sale, and possession of large quantities of recretational drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine” (346).

Substance abuse involving drugs and alcohol remains a worldwide crisis and Canada too is not immune to it. While alcohol and the traditional drugs such as cannabis/marijuana, heroin etc are the top contributors to this crisis, what affects Canada specifically are alcohol, cannabis/marijuana, non-prescribed use of prescription pain relievers (codeine, percocet, percodan, demerol) and tobacco. And of these alcohol remains by far, the most abused substance by the largest number of people.

In our current model, penalties for drug possession and use are so severe that once a young person is penalized it is difficult, near impossible for them to recover and be a productive member of the society. Decriminalization, on the other hand would encourage users to honestly discuss their drug use with health experts who will act as advisers and not adversaries. In Portugal, for example treatments are recommended for those who have drug problems; repeated offenders are accorded non criminal punishments like suspension of their driver's license or banned from specific neighborhoods known for drug use (Hart, 2013, p. 325). This is a far cry from how drug offences are dealt with here in the United States. It is not uncommon for fines for drug possession to range from anywhere from $100 to $100,000 or more in this country. This is an immense amount of money when taken in light of sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh's documentations that most dealers make the same amount of money if they had taken employment at McDonald's (Hart, 2013, p. 187). Jail sentences range widely depending on the crime charged, the type of drugs involved, and the state's laws, can range from a few days or weeks to 10 years or more in prison. This leads to former inmates exiting from prisons as hardened criminals who

In order to find an alternative to the United States current drug policy, it is helpful to look at the current options. Governments typically take three broad approaches toward drugs. The first is legalization, in which possession and sale are lawful but still subject to regulation and taxation. The second is criminalization, which consists of the banning of possession and sale with criminal punishment (i.e incarceration). Lastly, there is the combination of the two—where sale and possession are prohibited, yet possession is punishable only by sanctions, such as fines or abuse treatment but not jail time.

Canada’s Drug Strategy (CDS) is an initiative controlled by the Canadian federal government that emerged in 1987. The CDS addresses the many harmful effects substance use can have on not only an individual but families and communities as well. The CDS believes that substance abuse has a negative impact on health, social life, safety and economic conditions. The CDS has four pillars: prevention, treatment, harm reduction and enforcement. The program attempts to solve the issue of substance abuse by decreasing the popularity of harmful drug use, the number of Canadian youth experimenting with drugs, the frequency of contagious diseases related to substance abuse, the illicit drug supply, new and emerging drug trends, avoidable health, social

Drug legalization is an enduring question that presently faces our scholars. This issue embraces two positions: drugs should not be legalized and drugs should be legalized. These two positions contain an array of angles that supports each issue. This brief of the issues enables one to consider the strengths and weakness of each argument, become aware of the grounds of disagreement and agreement and ultimately form an opinion based upon the positions stated within the articles. In the article “Against the Legalization of Drugs”, by James Q. Wilson, the current status of drugs is supported. Wilson believes if a drug such as heroin were legalized there would be no financial or medical reason to avoid heroin usage;

“ We realize that drug addiction is a sickness, but it is also a crime” according to Pam Bondi. As we all know drug abuse is a big problem that is not often discussed. The reason we do not discuss it because we tend to hide things that cause a mad image or problem in our society. But the issue is much bigger. The legalization of drugs would improve many things such as how the government would have control over its cost and sales, the decrease of crime rates and the way we treat the people in our community who seek help.