Vancouver and Drugs: A Progressive City in a Conservative Country

Throughout Canada, even in the sparsely populated wilds of British Columbia, law enforcement officials are getting tougher with marijuana growers and users. Canadian police say that “Cannabis is the biggest issue facing law enforcement now.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party agree: they are opposed to the decriminalization or legalization of marijuana. In December 2005, Harper made his position clear in an interview with a Vancouver radio station: he supports mandatory minimums for drug criminals such as marijuana growers, and he stated that the Conservative Party would “never endorse” the legalization of marijuana.

Vancouver, British Columbia’s largest city, may be the world’s “best place to live.” Under Canadian federal law, marijuana possession is illegal there as it is throughout all of Canada.

Yet it has been said that Vancouver is “on the cutting edge of drug reform in the Western hemisphere.” Marijuana coffee shops and British Columbia’s reputation as the home of high-quality marijuana have brought tourism there, and the city is warmly regarded by the magazine High Times.

Vancouver’s “Four Pillars Drug Strategy,” modeled after policies in Germany and Switzerland, treats drug users with empathy while attempting to preserve public order. Under Four Pillars (Prevention, Treatment, Harm Reduction, and Enforcement) guidelines, Vancouver has increased housing for addicts, provided them with centers where they may use needles safely and cleanly, and has experimented with using prescription heroin to treat users. The program has been exceptionally popular: nearly three-quarters of Greater Vancouver residents support how Four Pillars has affected the drug problem in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Vancouver residents’ feelings toward drug policy are not atypical for Canadians, many of whom seem to be in favor of liberal drug policies, especially toward marijuana. A 2004 poll (.pdf) conducted by SES Research at the behest of NORML Canada revealed that “almost six in ten Canadians say adult Canadians who possess small quantities of marijuana for personal use should be left alone” and that “a majority of Canadians believe [marijuana] should be treated the same way as beer, wine, or spirits.”

Marijuana usage is also relatively common among Canadians. In 2004, the Canadian Addiction Survey (.pdf) found that among Canadians 15 and over, 44.5% had used marijuana at least once in their lifetimes, 14.1% at least once in the past year.

Politically, demands for legalization have been frequent and sustained. Moreover, they have been heard and considered by the highest levels of the Canadian government. As recently as 2002, a Canadian Senate committee recommended that Canada legalize marijuana.

The law-and-order approach to marijuana emphasized by the Harper government is troubling to some Canadians, who fear how Harper’s policies may affect programs like Four Pillars in Vancouver. Moreover, they ask, what are the international implications of energetic Canadian participation in the US’ hardline anti-drug strategy? Will Canadian troops soon be hunting drug lords in places like Columbia and Afghanistan?

One wonders why the Canadian police view marijuana as their biggest problem - police from around the world, indeed, might find that an enviable position. One wonders, too, why Canadian police do not simply give up their efforts against marijuana, much as British police did in 2001 when they decided they simply had better things to do than pursue small-time marijuana users and smugglers.

But perhaps harsh rhetoric on the part of policy makers is just that. Cracking down on drug users has long been a way for “tough on crime” politicians to demonstrate that they are bold and courageous leaders. Yet handcuffs, courts, and prisons aren’t the only way to deal with drug users. The popularity and seeming effectiveness of Vancouver’s Four Pillars approach should give anti-drug politicians pause.

And perhaps American lawmakers could learn a similar lesson - namely, that progressive drug policies are not strictly the province of “weird Europeans,” but are alive and well only steps from our back door.

Those interested in learning more about marijuana politics in British Columbia can visit the British Columbia Marijuana Party. On a national level, major organizations pushing for marijuana reform in Canada include NORML Canada and the Marijuana Party of Canada. Finally, readers interested in Canadian activists’ struggles can read here about the battle over attempts to extradite activist Marc Emery and his colleagues to the United States, where they face possible life imprisonment for the sale of marijuana seeds.

Illustration by jackrascal

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