Not This Time
Subtitle: Canadians, Public Policy, and the Marijuana Question, 1961-1975
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Published: April 2, 2006
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 300
ISBN-13: 9780802090485
Subjects: Drug addiction & substance abuse; History of specific subjects; c 1960 to c 1970; Marijuana; Government policy; Political Science; Politics / Current Events; Popular Culture - Counter Culture; Politics/International Relations; Canada; History & Theory - General; Public Policy - Social Policy; Political Science / Social Policy; Canada - General; Public opinion; 20th century; History
First sentence: In 1968, Chatelaine magazine published the story of Keith, a twenty-one-year-old man from a 'good' family, who was arrested for possession of marijuana and got a six-month jail sentence.
Description: "Illegal in Canada since 1923, marijuana is the most controversial of banned drugs. Because it lacks the same addictive and harmful qualities as other illegal substances, such as heroin and cocaine, its social impact is a matter for debate. In the 1960s, many Canadians began demanding changes to the Narcotics Control Act that would decriminalize or legalize the possession of marijuana." "In Not This Time, Marcel Martel explores the recreational use of marijuana in the 1960s and its emergence as a topic of social debate. He demonstrates how the media, interest groups, state institutions, bureaucrats, and politicians influenced the development and implementation of public policy on drugs. Martel illustrates how two loose coalitions made up of interest groups, addiction research organizations, and bureaucrats - one supporting existing legislation, and the other favouring liberalization of the Narcotics Control Act - dominated the debate over the legalization of marijuana. Those favouring liberalized drug laws, while influential, had difficulty presenting a unified front and had problems justifying their cause while the effects of marijuana use on health were still in question. Exploring both sides of the debate, Martel presents the history of a controversial issue that continues to reverberate in the minds of Canadians."--Jacket.