Canada will become the first G7 country to legalize cannabis, and the world is watching. The primary concern facing the Liberal government as it seeks to fulfill its 2015 campaign promise to “legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana” is whether it can be done without making the situa- tion worse. As the Liberal platform pointed out, the current regime lets illegal cannabis fall into the hands of minors, pours large profits into organized crime, and traps many people in the criminal jus- tice system for what is arguably a victimless crime. While the legalization of marijuana in Canada begins with a straightforward change of the crimi- nal code, its ramifications go far beyond this. Legalization will have a serious impact on the country’s international treaty commitments, inter- provincial relations, taxation and regulatory regimes, and social and health policies. The essays in this book address these outcomes from three main perspectives: the decades-long political path to legalization; the assumptions that underwrite the new policy, in particular the desire to stamp out the black market; and how legalization in Canada looks in an international context. Bringing together analysis by policy makers and scholars, including architects of marijuana legisla- tion in Uruguay and Portugal – two trailblazing jurisdictions – High Time provides an urgent and necessary overview of Canada’s Cannabis Act. Andrew Potter is a journalist and academic who teaches at the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. Daniel Weinstock is a professor in the McGill Faculty of Law. 2 M Q U P S P R I N G 2 0 1 9 C U R R E N T A F F A I R S • S O C I A L P O L I C Y High Time The Legalization and Regulation of Cannabis in Canada edited by andrew potter and daniel weinstock It took Canada fifty years to reform its marijuana laws. Did it get them right? S P E C I F I C AT I O N S IdN.t3u0C E92 ru0 ($Ht.. R83rtrdr0 E92 @0o.ru o8C c9$to. I9.t$f March 2019 -5,7a755pl7lnhS7n 4ssi-lv bAU1 4ssi-lv Dc1 kS5i-- 6o602 -5,7a755pl7lnpn7s 4SSaiaac bAU1 4SSaiaac Dc1 k,,iaa $.9ru n B - s,a66 0g99T omot.oN.0