Canadian Psychedelic Law History (1970-2020)
The War on Drugs
Prior to their widespread criminal prohibition by the 1970s, psychedelics in Canada were studied and used recreationally, for religious and cultural purposes, and for the therapeutic treatment of alcoholism and other mental health issues. However, increased recreational psychedelic substance use by Western youth in the 1960s, particularly among members of the American anti-war counterculture, led to a political backlash spearheaded by US President Richard Nixon, whose government launched the infamous ‘War on Drugs’ in the late 1960s/early 1970s.
The American War on Drugs largely took the form of the federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970. The law criminally prohibited cannabis, psilocybin, LSD, DMT, and various other substances.
The War on Drugs, though, was not restricted to the United States, but successfully advanced internationally in the form of international drug treaties to which Canada was signatory.
The most impactful treaty regarding psychedelics was the United Nations’ 1971 Convention of Psychotropic Substances. To comply with the Convention, Canada incorporated the drug prohibitions contained in the Convention’s Part IV into our Food and Drugs Act (FDA). Schedule H of Part IV included substances such as LSD and DMT, which were deemed “restricted drugs” for which possession or trafficking carried harsh punishments.
Both LSD and DMT were, in any event, already prohibited in Canada by 1968. Surprisingly, even though it was also named in the Convention, psilocybin was not added to the FDA until 1974.
The War on Drugs cast a shadow of illegitimacy over psychedelics and anyone associated with their study. Psychedelic research was effectively frozen for decades - including for medical professionals in Canada, who had been doing ground-breaking research on psychedelics, particularly at the Souris Valley Mental Health Hospital in Weyburn, Saskatchewan.
The Le Dain Commission
Skeptical of the rationale for incarcerating promising youth on account of activities involving cannabis and similarly prohibited substances, 1969’s elder Trudeau government established the Le Dain Commission with the goal of reassessing the Canada’s drug laws.
The Commission produced four reports between its inception and 1973, and ultimately recommended that Canada decriminalize simple cannabis possession and otherwise relax criminal law enforcement against non-medical drug users. Nonetheless, the majority of federal drug laws remained unchanged from this time until the mid 1990s.
The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) of 1996 repealed Parts III and IV of the FDA and consolidated parts of that law with the Narcotics Control Act to establish one uniform Canadian drug law. Under the CDSA, substances are listed based on their danger to society, including addiction potential. Schedule I substances are most addictive and carry the harshest penalties. Schedule II substances decrease in danger and punishment, and so on down to Schedule IX. The majority of psychedelic substances are listed under Schedule III, with the exception of MDMA and ketamine, which are listed as Schedule I substances.
Cannabis Legalization
In 2001, following the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in R. v. Parker (2000), the Canadian government established a regulatory regime by which persons could legally obtain medical cannabis. The landmark decision determined that criminally prohibiting medical cannabis access violated the Charter rights of those with a legitimate medical need. (See the page “Charter Implications” for more on this decision.)
In 2015, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau was elected prime minister of Canada, with the Liberals garnering a strong majority of seats in Canada’s federal parliament. Trudeau campaigned on a promise to legalize recreational cannabis, and kept this promise when the government passed the Cannabis Act in 2017.
The Act came into force on October 18, 2018, a day on which there was much rejoicing.
The Psychedelic Renaissance
In the late 1990s/early 2000s, researchers (particularly in the US) began taking a second look at psychedelics, seemingly picking up where their forebears left off in the 1970s. This new psychedelic research continued and grew as a field for 20+ years, resulting in an explosion of new and exciting discoveries, which in turn led to a resurgence of international interest in psychedelics.
This is now referred to as the “Psychedelic Renaissance”.
Since at least 2013, Health Canada has been granting exemptions for academic and medical institutions to conduct clinical trials involving psychedelics. Most if not all such exemptions are granted under Section 56 of the CDSA, which allows the Minister of Health to legally exempt activities involving a prohibited substance where the exemption is necessary for a medical or scientific purpose, or is otherwise in the public interest. Exemptions may also be given pursuant to the Food and Drug Regulations and the Narcotic Control Regulations.
Canadian Psychedelic Therapy Access
Starting in August 2020, Health Canada began exempting psilocybin therapy for patients struggling with end of life anxiety and depression. This marked the first time non-study participants were legally permitted to use psilocybin in Canada since the substance’s criminalization in the 1970s. In December 2020, Health Canada also granted exemptions to 16 health care professionals, including doctors, nurses, and therapists, allowing them to possess and use psilocybin themselves for research and development purposes.
In December 2020, Health Canada announced its intent to restore access to “restricted drugs” such as psilocybin and MDMA through the Special Access Program. This would allow health practitioners to request such substances for patients dealing with serious or life-threatening conditions where conventional medicines have failed, or are otherwise unsuitable or unavailable in Canada. These new regulations went into effect in early 2022.