Briefly, colleagues, this amendment would add another provision to the purposes section of the bill, a new paragraph 7(h), so it would read that the purpose of the act is to protect public health and public safety, and in particular, to:
recognize that criminal prohibitions on certain activities in relation to cannabis may have a negative impact on social determinants of health.
For decades evidence has been mounting that the so-called war on drugs has been a clear failure from a variety of perspectives, but particularly from a public health perspective. New Democrats have long understood that cannabis use isn't a moral failing or an issue of character and that its criminal prohibition has, in most contexts, and some would argue in all contexts, been more harmful than the substance itself.
Most tellingly, colleagues, we've heard a lot of evidence at this committee about discretion being applied by police officers in enforcing this act and in applying penalties, and I think adding this purpose will serve as a guidepost to those officers in exercising their discretion. We heard evidence from officers and I think from the department officials that there's discretion in terms of giving tickets or sometimes arresting; there's sometimes proceeding by summary conviction, and sometimes by indictment. I think having a clear statement of purpose in this bill that recognizes that criminal prohibitions in respect to cannabis can have a negative impact on social determinants of health will help those officers and the people charged with administering this bill and exercising that discretion.
I want to give a couple of quotes to the committee.
Dr. Eileen de Villa, the medical officer of health, Toronto Public Health, said:
Criminalization of cannabis use and possession impacts social determinants of health such as access to employment and housing. Given that cannabis possession will soon be made lawful in Canada, I urge you to immediately decriminalize the possession of non-medical cannabis for personal use.
That latter sentence speaks to a different issue, of course, but I think her main sentence is clear.
Michael DeVillaer, assistant professor at McMaster University, said:
Issuing of more criminal records will continue to have a devastating impact on the social determinants of health of these mostly young Canadians. Prohibition also poses a problem for those who are dependent on cannabis and are seeking treatment to improve their lives. In my experience as a counsellor, I never encountered a patient who was helped by a criminal record. It actually impeded their efforts.
Kirk Tousaw said:
Public health isn't just about the health consequences or benefits of using a particular substance. Public health also includes considerations of undue and unnecessary criminalization of people, use of the courts, use of the legal regime, misuse of police resources, distrust between the police...and all of those things are amplified by taking some sort of restrictive approach to people accessing relatively safe products like cannabis.
Finally, I want to quote two ministers who came.
The Minister of Health, Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, said:
Protecting the health and safety of Canadians is a priority for our government and the focus of this bill. Canadians use cannabis at some of the highest rates in the world and decades of criminal prohibition have not reduced these rates. In fact, cannabis has become the most commonly used illegal substance in Canada.
She continued:
Our youth have the highest prevalence of cannabis use when compared with peers in other developed countries. This clearly shows that the current approach to cannabis is not working.
To echo what my colleagues have indicated, the evidence is clear that prohibition, the status quo, is just not working.
Finally, Mr. Chair, Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, the Minister of Justice, said this:
There is a broad consensus among Canadians that our current approach to cannabis is not working. Our system of criminal prohibition fosters an environment where organized crime reaps billions of dollars in profits from its sale, where thousands of Canadians each year end up with criminal records for non-violent cannabis offences, and where cannabis is not being kept out of the hands of young people.
In conclusion, Mr. Chair, I think a clear statement that one of the purposes of this act is to recognize that criminal prohibitions on certain activities in relation to cannabis may have a negative impact on social determinants of health is not only a profoundly accurate statement, it's one borne by the evidence this committee heard, one that was reinforced by the Minister of Health and the Minister of Justice, and one that I think will have the helpful impact of reminding those entrusted and charged with enforcing this legislation in the future that whenever possible, to not use a criminal approach to cannabis is preferable, and a criminal approach should be avoided at all costs, given the negative health consequences of criminalization on our population, particularly on young people.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.