The legal status of marijuana has been a subject of much debate - and legal wrangling - over the past few years. Presently, non-medicinal marijuana possession is a criminal offense in Canadian law.

Canadians caught with thirty grams of marijuana or less are subject to six months in prison or fines of up to $1 000. Adults charged with possession receive a permanent criminal record, which can prevent international travel and limit employment opportunities.

Efforts have been made to decriminalize marijuana possession. The Liberal party under Jean ChrÈtien introduced legislation in 2003 that would have liberalized marijuana laws, but Parliament was prorogued before the bill could proceed. The proposal was reintroduced under Paul Martin in early 2004 only to endure a similar fate. The third and last incarnation of the bill was never brought to a final vote. It stalled with the election of a Conservative government in 2006.

Stephen Harper has made clear that his government will not revive attempts at decriminalization. Harper has criticized Canadian culture for tolerating and even romanticizing drug use. "Until we manage to change the culture, we certainly cannot promise that there will be complete success," Harper reported last year.

Decriminalization, which has also been endorsed by the Bloc QuÈbÈcois and the New Democrats, would prevent casual users of marijuana from being tarred with the stigma of a criminal conviction. For possession of fifteen grams or less, the Liberal Party proposal would have introduced fines of $150 for adults or $100 for youth.

After the decriminalization bill failed, a number of police forces in Canada's large cities reported a dramatic increase in the number of arrests for marijuana possession. Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Halifax all reported increases of twenty to 50 percent.

Terry McLaren, President of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, told media sources that while decriminalization was on the table, some police forces stopped possession charges. "Everybody was waiting for what was going to happen. [...] There'd be no use clogging up the court system with that decriminalization bill there," said McLaren.

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police criticized the reform bill. The Association favours possession legislation that would allow police to press criminal charges at their own discretion.

There is widespread support for decriminalization in Canada. A number of polls have reported majority support for decriminalizing possession. In a 2004 poll by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, less than 10 percent of participants felt that possession of small quantities merited a criminal record. Recent polls have found that Canadians are willing to go beyond decriminalization. A recent poll by Angus Reid estimated that 53 percent of Canadians support the full legalization of marijuana.

In 2002, the push for legalization got a boost from an unexpected source: the Canadian Senate. After extensive research, the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs published an extensive report advocating the legalization of marijuana. One of the report's many recommendations was amnesty for those who have received a criminal conviction for marijuana possession in the past.

The House of Commons Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs released a report later the same year advocating the liberalization of Canadian drug laws.

The two reports from 2002 are not the first to advocate liberalization. In 1972, the Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs-dubbed the Le Dain Commission after chairman Dean Gerald Le Dain-released its final report. The report recommended that the prohibition of possession be repealed. "The costs to a significant number of individuals, the majority of whom are young people, and to society generally, of a policy of prohibition of simple possession are not justified by the potential for harm of cannabis and the additional influence which such a policy is likely to have upon perception of harm, demand and availability," the report's authors concluded.

2004 H.U.M.A.N.: Hemp Users Medical Access Network - Toronto Medical Marijuana