The legalization of cannabis in Canada has led to a drop in incidents between the country’s youth and law enforcement, according to data released in early spring.
The results, published in April in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependenceshow that Canada’s five-year-old cannabis law “has been associated with a significant reduction in police-reported cannabis offenses for both males and females” among citizens aged 12 at 17 years old.
Looking at police data between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2021, researchers at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto found a rate of 4.04 daily incidents among young women, a decrease of 62 .1%, and 12.42 daily offenses among young men, representing a reduction of 53%.
The Cannabis Act officially came into force in Canada in October 2018, legalizing the recreational use of marijuana for adults aged 18 and over.
“The results suggest that the impact of the Cannabis Act on reducing youth cannabis-related crime is strong, supporting the law’s goals of reducing cannabis-related criminalization among youth and the associated effects on the Canadian criminal justice system,” the researchers wrote in their conclusion.
The researchers added that there was “no evidence of an association between cannabis legalization and patterns of property crime or violent crime.”
In their review, the researchers wrote, “The Cannabis Act was associated with sustained and substantial decreases of approximately 50% to 60% in national trends in cannabis-related criminal incidents among young men and young police-reported women over a period of approximately three years after legalization….. Given that involvement with the police and the Canadian criminal justice system for cannabis-related criminal incidents represents social and individual harm important for youth, 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 the Canadian Cannabis Act of 2018, allowing youth to possess up to 5g of dried cannabis or the equivalent for personal/sharing use, was associated with a reduction short-term (76 days) after legalization of police-reported cannabis-related youth crime. »
The results are consistent with another recent study, also published in Drug and Alcohol Dependencewhich showed that the legalization of cannabis in Canada did not lead to an increase in road accidents.
“Neither the LCC [loi canadienne sur le cannabis] nor the NCS [nombre de magasins de cannabis par habitant] are associated with concomitant changes in (road safety) outcomes. … During the first year of CRUL implementation [loi sur l’usage récréatif du cannabis] in Toronto, no significant changes were observed in crashes, road fatalities and KSI [tous les usagers de la route tués ou gravement blessés] “says the study.
Another study, conducted in 2021, found similar results, finding “no evidence that cannabis law implementation was associated with significant changes in post-legalization patterns of trauma ER visits.” for all drivers or, more specifically, for road trauma emergency presentations for young drivers”.
“Given that Canada’s Cannabis Act requires the Canadian Parliament to review the public health implications of the law no later than 2023, the results of this study may provide empirical data not only for the Canadian assessment of calculation of harms and benefits, but also for other international jurisdictions weighing the merits and demerits of cannabis legalization policies,” the study states.
