Legal history of cannabis in Canada

Although the federal government intends to introduce legislation paving a way to legalization in 2017,Cannabis in Canada remains illegal for recreational use until legislation is enacted. Police and prosecution services in all Canadian jurisdictions are currently capable of pursuing criminal charges for cannabis (legal term marijuana) possession and for marketing without a license issued by Health Canada. The Superior and appellate courts in Ontario have repeatedly declared Canada's cannabis laws to be of no force and/or effect if a prescription is obtained. The recreational use of marijuana, however, has remained contrary to the Criminal Code.

Since 1997, public opinion polls have found that an increasing majority of Canadians agree with the statement, "Smoking marijuana should not be a criminal offence". A June 2016 national poll conducted by Nanos Research showed that 7 in 10 Canadians are in favour of legalization.

Challenges to marijuana laws at the federal level did not result in the deletion of the appropriate sections from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Legalization for personal (non-medical) consumption would need to be legislated, and that is the plan of the Government of Canada, as confirmed in 2015 and more specifically in 2016. The enactment of that legislation will be the concluding point in a long history of attempts to legalize cannabis through the courts.

Drug prohibition in Canada began with the Opium Act of 1908, which was introduced based on a report by then-Deputy Minister of Labour, Mackenzie King. Following the Asiatic Exclusion League riot of 1907, King went to Vancouver to investigate causes of the riots and claims for compensation. Some of the claims came from opium manufacturers seeking compensation for damage done to their production facilities by the mob that attacked Chinatown and Japantown. While in Vancouver, King interviewed members of a Chinese anti-opium league and came away in favour of suppressing the drug because "opium smoking was making headway, not only among white men and boys, but also among women and girls." In his report, King summarized the progress of the anti-opium movement in China, the United States, Britain, and Japan to make the point that Canada was lagging behind in this international movement. King's recommendations were the basis for the 1908 Opium Act, which prohibited the sale, manufacture, and importation of opium for other than medicinal use. This was followed by the Opium and Drug Act of 1911, which outlawed the sale or possession of morphine, opium, or cocaine. Smoking opium became a separate offence, punishable by a maximum penalty of $50 and one month in jail. King introduced the new legislation based on recommendations from the chief constable of the Vancouver police and to bring Canada's drug laws in line with resolutions passed at an American-led international anti-opium conference in Shanghai. The name of the 1911 Act is significant because it separates opium, associated with Chinese users, from "white drugs," so labelled because of the colour of both the drugs themselves and the race of those presumed to be consuming them.

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