Cannabis Control Policy: A Discussion Paper
Our Thanks to Mike Bryan
The foreword below was written in 1998 by Mike Bryan, who served as Special
Assistant and Editor with Canada's Le Dain Commission of Inquiry Into the
Non-Medical Use of Drugs (1969-73). Over the past few years, Mr.
Bryan has donated enormous time and effort, first to obtain this important
and previously unpublicized 1979 report, Cannabis Control Policy: A
Discussion Paper, under Canada's access to information law. He then
spent many hours scanning, reviewing and preparing this material so that
it could be added to the Canadian
Foundation for Drug Policy web site. For this extraordinary effort
to bring to light a hidden chapter in the history of Canada's cannabis
policy, and much useful information beyond that, the Canadian Foundation
for Drug Policy (and many Canadians interested in drug policy reform, we
are certain) offers Mike Bryan its sincere thanks.
(Please note that the glitches in presenting Mr. Bryan's work on this
web site (links that don't work, missing graphics, etc.) are those of the
Foundation, and not Mr. Bryan. We will continue to work to
eliminate our glitches.)
Cannabis Control Policy: A Discussion Paper
Health Protection Branch
Department of National Health and Welfare
January 1979
Foreword (prepared
by Mike Bryan, 1998)
In the spring of 1978 Dr. Alex B. Morrison, then Assistant Deputy Minister,
Health Protection Branch (HPB), was advised that the Government was prepared
to make a major shift in cannabis control policy. Before taking that
step, however, the responsible Cabinet Ministers, led by the Minister of
Health, required a thorough briefing on cannabis and the legal issues and
options surrounding its control in Canada. At that time I was a Policy
Analyst in HPB's Planning and Evaluation Directorate. I had also
served as Special Assistant and Editor to the Le Dain Commission of Inquiry
Into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs (1969-1973). Dr. Morrison called
me to his office and explained the Government's desire to address cannabis
policy. By the end of our meeting I was given carte blanche to
assemble a team of leading researchers in drug pharmacology, epidemiology,
the law and law enforcement and to coordinate the preparation of a briefing
document. That I did; and this Cabinet Discussion Paper is the culmination
of that team's efforts.
The key members of the research team and the drafters of this paper
were also former members of the staff of the Le Dain Commission:
Mel Green, LL.B., a Research Associate; Ralph D. Miller, Ph.D., the Commission's
Director of Research; Prof. Judith Blackwell of Brock University, a Senior
Research Assistant; and Prof. Robert Soloman of the University of Western
Ontario Law School, a Contract Researcher. Dr. Leo E. Hollister of
the Veterans Administration Hospital, Palo Alto, California and Patricia
Erickson, Senior Scientist, Addiction Research Foundation of Ontario were
among other noted specialists who contributed background research for the
paper.
For the past thirty years the federal Government has been
telling the Canadian public that it has taken steps to prevent imprisonment
and the imposition of criminal records for persons tried for possession
of small amounts of cannabis. This it has never done — not even with the
special cannabis provisions of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
enacted last year. Every person prosecuted for cannabis possession today
faces the possibility of imprisonment and will definitely have a criminal
record for the offence, regardless of the quantity involved or the sentence
imposed — a criminal record that will be entered, even if for a limited
time, on the RCMP's automated information retrieval system (CPIC)
and will, therefore, be accessible to public and private organizations
in Canada and officials of the United States and other allied states.
The cannabis control policy debate in this country remains
wide open; and for that reason this Discussion Paper is as relevant today
as it was when written 20 years ago. It provides a thorough analysis of
the major health and safety issues related to cannabis, one that has not
altered substantially in the intervening years. In terms of the breadth
and depth of its examination of the legislative options available to the
federal and provincial Governments, there is nothing on the Canadian scene
to compare to it. It is an excellent starting point for anyone wanting
to take a serious look at where we can go from here.
I obtained a copy of this briefing paper through the Access to Information
Act in January of this year and am pleased to have had a hand in sharing
it with you through the good offices of the Canadian Foundation for Drug
Policy.
Mike Bryan
Richmond, British Columbia
October 3, 1998
mbryan@direct.ca
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