ABSTRACT
Canada has a long history of stringent drug policies with a criminal justice focus. Canadian provinces introduced minor controls on marketing of drugs in 1870s. Opiate drugs were freely prescribed, readily available without a prescription. Canada's first drug legislation, the Opium and Narcotic Drug Act, was passed in 1908, pre-dating United States Harrison Narcotics Act. Research suggests that Blacks are dramatically overrepresented with respect to drug possession and drug trafficking charges. Blacks constitute approximately 2.5" of the Canadian population, black inmates accounted for 9" of the federal prison population and the black incarceration rate. In addition to problems in the criminal justice system, several Canadian newspaper reporters have actively engaged in the racialization of crime. Jamaicans 'routinely bring in new recruits from abroad and have strong links to the Colombian cocaine cartels'. Stephen Harper's Conservative government has actively resisted these approaches, and has actually ramped up enforcement of drug laws.
