Legalization as more effective control? Parallels between the end of alcohol prohibition (1927) and the legalization of cannabis (2018) in Ontario, Canada

Jean-François Crépault; Jürgen Rehm; Robin Room

doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103367

Legalization as more effective control? Parallels between the end of alcohol prohibition (1927) and the legalization of cannabis (2018) in Ontario, Canada

Int J Drug Policy. 2021 Nov:97:103367. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103367. Epub 2021 Jul 24.

Authors

Jean-François Crépault¹, Jürgen Rehm², Robin Room³

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), 1001 Queen Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M6J 1H4; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 6(th) Floor, 155 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5T 3M7. Electronic address: JeanFrancois.Crepault@camh.ca.
² Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), 1001 Queen Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M6J 1H4; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 6(th) Floor, 155 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5T 3M7; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, 8(th) Floor, 250 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5T 1R8; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, 1 King's College Circle, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 1A8; Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy & Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Longitudinal Studies, Technische Universität Dresden, Chemnitzer Str. 46, D-01187 Dresden, Germany; Department of International Health Projects, Institute for Leadership and Health Management, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Trubetskaya str., 8, b. 2, 119992, Moscow, Russian Federation.
³ Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, La Trobe University, Plenty Road, Bundoora, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, VIC 3086; Centre for Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs, Department of Public Health Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden, SE-106 91.

PMID: 34311148
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103367

Abstract

Background: In the 1920s, eight of nine Canadian provinces legalized alcohol sales, ending prohibition in favor of government control. Much has been written about the rise and fall of Prohibition in North America, but there is little work examining these events in the light of current drug policy debates. This paper attempts to fill some of these gaps.

Methods: The aims of this paper are primarily exploratory and descriptive. Following a literature review, it draws from secondary and some primary sources to explore the debate around ending alcohol prohibition (i.e. legalizing its distribution) in Ontario between 1920 and 1927. It then uses material drawn from a comprehensive search of the Canadian House of Commons debates on cannabis legalization between 2016 and 2018 to draw parallels with the debates around alcohol legalization in Ontario about 90 years earlier.

Results: While alcohol and cannabis legalization occurred in very different social and political contexts, there are similarities in both the arguments in favor of ending prohibition (ineffectiveness at preventing consumption and collateral social harms) and post-legalization debates around regulation (most notably the optimal way to replace the illicit market).

Conclusion: The Canadian cannabis legalization debates of the 2010s echo the alcohol legalization debates of the 1920s in remarkable and relevant ways. Ultimately the most striking parallel may be the extent to which the political leaders advocating for legalization emphasized that their policy was not liberalization, but more effective control.

Keywords: Alcohol; Alcohol policy; Canada; Cannabis; Cannabis policy.

MeSH terms

Canada
Cannabis*
Commerce
Humans
Legislation, Drug
Ontario
Public Policy