Legalization in Canada results in fewer incidents between youth and police officers

The legalization of cannabis in Canada has led to a decrease in incidents between the country’s youth and law enforcement, according to data released earlier this spring.

The findings, published in April in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, found that Canada’s five-year-old marijuana law “was associated with a significant reduction in police-reported cannabis-related offenses by both men and women” among citizens of all ages was connected from the 12th and 17th

Examining police data from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2021, researchers at the Toronto Center for Addiction and Mental Health found a rate of 4.04 daily incidents among young women, a 62.1% decrease , and 12.42 daily offenses among young men , a 53% reduction.

The Cannabis Act officially went into effect in Canada in October 2018, legalizing the recreational use of marijuana for adults 18 and older.

“The results indicate that the effect of the Cannabis Act in reducing cannabis-related juvenile delinquency is sustained and supports the Act’s goals of reducing cannabis-related criminalization among youth and the associated impact on Canada’s criminal justice system,” they wrote researchers in their conclusion.

Researchers added that “there is no evidence of an association between cannabis legalization and patterns of ownership or violent crime.”

In its drafting of the report, NORML quoted the researchers as saying, “The cannabis law was associated with an approximately 50 to 60 percent sustained and significant decrease in nationwide patterns of male and female adolescent cannabis-related cannabis-related criminal incidents.” over a period of approximately three years after legalization. … Given that the involvement of the police and Canada’s criminal justice system in cannabis-related criminal incidents causes great social and individual harm to young people, it is reasonable to conclude that our results demonstrate a benefit associated with the implementation of the Cannabis Act .”

The researchers said they had “previously reported that Canada’s Cannabis Act of 2018, which allows youth possession of up to 5g of dried cannabis or equivalent for personal use/sharing, will face a short-term (76 days) post-legalization delay Reduction in police reported cannabis-related crimes among youth.”

The results are consistent with another recent study, also published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, which showed that legalizing recreational marijuana use and cannabis sales in Canada did not lead to an increase in car accidents.

“[N]either the CCA [Canadian Cannabis Act] nor the NCS [number of cannabis stores per capita] is associated with simultaneous changes in the (road safety) results. … During the first year of the CRUL [cannabis recreational use laws] Implemented in Toronto, no significant changes in accidents, number of traffic fatalities and KSI [all road users killed or severely injured] were observed,” says the study.

Another 2021 study came to similar conclusions, finding “no evidence that implementation of the Cannabis Act was associated with significant changes in the patterns of all emergency department visits for traffic accidents after legalization, or, more specifically, traffic accidents among young drivers.” ED presentations on injuries.”

“Given that Canada’s Cannabis Act requires the Canadian Parliament to review the law’s public health implications no later than 2023, the results of the current study cannot provide only empirical data for Canada’s harm-benefit assessment but also for assessing the harm-benefit calculus for other international jurisdictions weighing the pros and cons of cannabis legalization policies,” the study cited by NORML states.

With marijuana legalization entrenched, some in Canada have shifted their focus to the next frontier of drug reform. Earlier this year, activists started a petition urging lawmakers to legalize psilocybin mushrooms for medicinal purposes.