Discover how Canada’s Cannabis Act has significantly reduced cannabis-related criminal incidents among youth whilst maintaining stability in property and violent crime rates.
Cannabis legalisation remains a hot topic of debate around the world and here in Australia. While some worry about its potential negative effects on society, a recent study in Canada demonstrates a positive impact on youth criminalisation. In this blog post, we’ll explore the findings of a study published on 19th April 2023 in the Drug and Alcohol Dependence journal, which examines the impact of Canada’s Cannabis Act on police-reported cannabis-related criminal incidents among youth.
The Cannabis Act and its Goals
Canada’s Cannabis Act came into effect on October 17, 2018, with a key focus on reducing the harm of criminalisation among young people who use cannabis. The Act allows youth aged 12-17 years to possess up to 5g of dried cannabis or equivalent for personal use or sharing. Researchers hypothesised that the implementation of the Cannabis Act would be associated with significant and sustained reductions in police-reported youth cannabis-related crimes among male and female youth.
Key Findings
The study’s results indicate that:
- • The Cannabis Act was associated with a 53.0% reduction in male cannabis-related criminal incidents and a 62.1% reduction in female incidents.
- An estimated 20,800 fewer police-reported youth cannabis-related criminal offences occurred across Canada during the approximate three-year post-legalisation period.
- No significant associations were found between cannabis legalisation and changes in property or violent crimes among male or female youth.
Implications of the Study
These findings demonstrate that Canada’s legislative framework has led to prominent and sustained reductions in police-reported youth cannabis-related criminal incidents. As involvement with the police and Canadian criminal justice system for cannabis-related incidents represents a major social and individual-level harm for young people, it is reasonable to conclude that the study shows a benefit associated with the implementation of the Cannabis Act.
Furthermore, the research supports previous studies in the US, which found no long-term shifts in crime rates overall following cannabis legalisation. With Canada’s data demonstrating no evidence of associations between cannabis legalisation and changes in subsequent patterns of property or violent crimes among male or female youth, it is clear that the Act’s primary aim of reducing cannabis-related criminalisation among youth has been achieved.
The results of this study provide important insights for Australian policymakers considering cannabis legalisation. They show that enacting legalisation measures like Canada’s Cannabis Act can lead to substantial decreases in youth cannabis-related criminal incidents, while maintaining stability in property and violent crime rates. Pressure is steadily mounting on the Federal and State Governments to take action on cannabis law reform.
Reference
Russell C. Callaghan, Marcos Sanches, Andrew
Hathaway, Mark Asbridge, Marjorie MacDonald and Stephen J. Kish, Canada’s
cannabis legalization and police-reported cannabis-related criminal incidents
among youth, 2015-2021., Drug and Alcohol Dependence, (2023)
doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2023.109892