Marijuana: truly the gateway…
The catalyst… was the section 56 class exemption which opened avenues furthering the universality of Canadian access to marijuana. But what does this have to do with the legalization of psychedelic drugs? In making this decision, the Canadian government had set a… precedent: If illicit drugs can be shown to have significant medical benefits they may end up fully legal…
The biggest development came in 2016 when the Federal Court of Canada ruled that “reasonable access” to medical marijuana was not provided to its users in the ground-breaking case of Allard v. Canada. From here, the 2017 Liberal Party, headed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, introduced and passed Bill C-45 and legalized cannabis to all Canadian Citizens at the age of majority. In a landmark legislative decision a previously illicit substance had been legalized to all Canadian citizens. As early as 1999 marijuana was being provided to patients for medical purposes through section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act which outlines the provision of scheduled substances to patients in need. Seemingly a loophole in the system at the time (as section 56 was intended for scheduled prescription medications, not illicit recreational drugs), this precedent brought about major legislative reform in the shape of the 2001 Marihuana Medical Access Regulations(MMAR). These regulations were adapted in 2013 into the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) which allowed the mass production and sale of marijuana for medical purposes.
Original Article (DocDroid):
Marijuana: truly the gateway drug
Artwork Fair Use: Tobias ToMar Maier
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