Illegal Canadian cannabis seized in U.S. up 900% since legalization says report

Sault Star reports on these alarming numbers

A new federal report says U.S. seizures of illegal pot from Canada has increased by at least 900% since Ottawa legalized cannabis, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.A Department of Health study says cross-border bootlegging represents a “potential harm to Canada’s international reputation.”

“The quantity of cannabis seized on import at U.S. ports of entry that share a border with Canada has increased by at least 929% since domestic legalization.”

The report, called Horizontal Evaluation Of The Legalization And Strict Regulation Of Cannabis, added: “Experts who participated in the evaluation estimate the overall increase of illegal cannabis exportation from Canada worldwide since domestic legalization could be as high as 2,000%.”

Federal researchers said in one year, ending Sept. 30, 2021, U.S. Customs agents seized 70,823 pounds of Canadian cannabis at the border.

That figure represents a tenfold increase from the 6,446 pounds confiscated in 2018-19 when the cannabis bill came into force.

This illegal cannabis exportation was a serious concern for multiple interviewees, both internally and externally, as Canada does not want to be known as a ‘source’ country for cannabis and there is potential harm to Canada’s international reputation if this is not addressed,” said the study.

The report also says Parliament’s repeal of a 95-year criminal ban on weed had cost taxpayers $546.8 million dollars including more expenses for the RCMP, Border Services Agency, Department of Public Safety and Department of Health regulators.

According to a Feb. 24 StatsCan report, tax revenues from marijuana sales are $1.6 billion annually.

“Sales of recreational cannabis by provincial cannabis authorities and other retail outlets were $4 billion in 2021-2022 equivalent to $131 per person of legal age to consume cannabis,” said StatsCan.

https://www.saultstar.com/news/national/illegal-canadian-weed-seized-in-u-s-up-900-since-legalization/wcm/bc2cfb2c-0bd7-459b-bcd3-c19f25a1b77d

 

 

Executive summary

Program profile and evaluation scope

The Cannabis Act came into force on October 17, 2018, to legalize and regulate the possession, production, import, export, sale, and distribution of cannabis for adults in Canada for medical and non-medical purposes. The Horizontal Initiative, Implementing a New Federal Framework for the Legalization and Strict Regulation of Cannabis, was created to support this new legislation and to develop, implement, and administer the new Framework, in order to support the Government of Canada’s objectives of:

  • protecting the health of young persons by restricting their access to cannabis;
  • protecting public health and public safety by establishing strict product safety and product quality requirements; and
  • deterring criminal activity by imposing serious criminal penalties for those operating outside of the legal Framework.

Funded partners under this Initiative include Health Canada (HC) as the lead, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Public Safety Canada (PS), and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). Their activities are organized by five high-level themes:

  1. establish, implement, and enforce the new legislative framework;
  2. provide Canadians with information needed to make informed decisions and minimize health and safety harms;
  3. build law enforcement knowledge and engage partners and stakeholders on public safety;
  4. provide criminal intelligence, enforcement, and related training activities; and
  5. prevent and interdict prohibited cross-border movement of cannabis while maintaining the flow of legitimate travelers and goods.

The evaluation looked at all five funded partners’ activities from 2017-18 to 2021-22, as well as the first four years of HC’s Substance Use and Addictions Program (SUAP), which was funded for public education, awareness, and research related to cannabis (2018-19 to 2021-22). The evaluation focused on what progress had been made by partners to implement planned activities and deliver on short-term results for the Horizontal Initiative. It also looked at the Initiative’s horizontal governance structure and collaboration among partners in support of the Framework’s objectives.

What we found

The implementation of the new Cannabis Framework was a success, particularly considering the short timelines leading up to legalization, the complexity of related issues, the number of stakeholders involved, and the historical context of the subject. All funded partners have made significant progress against planned outcomes included in the scope of this evaluation, despite unexpected impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. The five areas of activity led by funded partners are still appropriate to meet the goals of the Initiative. As the program moves forward with renewal, varying perspectives have been raised about which activities should be prioritized in light of the current context and challenges, such as online illicit cannabis sales and illegal cross-border movement.

The vast majority of external stakeholders and partners expressed appreciation for how smoothly the implementation of the Cannabis Framework went overall, due in large part to extensive engagement efforts by HC and other funded partners. However, concerns were raised by the few First Nations partners interviewed for this evaluation as to the level of meaningful engagement with Indigenous partners leading up to and since legalization.

While there is a view, expressed by some First Nations partners, that current engagement activities have not resulted in the changes they seek to the way the program is currently delivered, the First Nations partners interviewed for this evaluation also expressed cautious optimism regarding a 2021 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between HC and a First Nations community. This MOU helps support the consideration of community processes where appropriate, during HC’s licensing and oversight processes, including information sharing related to new applications, supporting transparency of on-site inspections, and providing expertise and support for the ongoing oversight of cannabis activities within the community. Some noted that the agreement could be a potential “blueprint” for other communities wanting similar recognition of their community processes within the federal cannabis framework.

There are also opportunities to further results of the Horizontal Initiative by increasing the transparency of HC inspection activities through timely publication of results, improving information sharing between HC and law enforcement related to personal and/or designated production of cannabis for medical purpose in support of investigations under the Cannabis Act, and enhancing public education and awareness efforts regarding cross-border movement of cannabis.

The horizontal Federal/Provincial/Territorial (FPT) governance structure established in the period leading up to legalization was found to be a key factor in the success of implementation activities. Now that the Framework and its supporting activities are moving towards stabilization following implementation, multiple partners have suggested that it is time to re-evaluate the governance strategy and streamline it where possible.

Recommendations

  1. Examine ways to increase transparency related to inspection activities, including a review of the approval levels required for publication of inspection data to support more timely public availability of inspection results. [HC]
  2. Explore additional ways to improve information sharing between HC and law enforcement agencies, including the RCMP, as part of the service provided by HC to disclose information relating to registrations to produce cannabis for medical purposes in support of investigations under the Cannabis Act, subject to legal restrictions, including those set out in the Cannabis Act. [HC, in collaboration with RCMP]
  3. Review the governance structure and strategy to streamline where possible while still facilitating ongoing information sharing across partners and all levels of government. [HC]
  4. Identify lessons learned from First Nations, Métis and Inuit community engagement and integrate learnings, where appropriate, into cannabis-related activities and services to ensure they are culturally responsive and relevant. [HC]
  5. Enhance public education and awareness strategies as they relate to cross-border movement of cannabis, in order to combat the high rates of prohibited importation and exportation occurring at the border, much of which is occurring unintentionally due to lack of awareness in travellers or consumers purchasing product online. [CBSA]

Program description

In April 2017, the Government of Canada introduced Bill C-45, An Act respecting cannabis and to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Criminal Code and other ActsFootnote1, to legalize and regulate the possession, production, import, export, sale, and distribution of cannabis for adults in Canada for medical and non-medical purposes. After receiving royal assent, the Cannabis Act came into force on October 17, 2018. This made Canada only the second country in the world to legalize cannabis for non-medical purposes, with Uruguay being the first in 2013. The Cannabis Act was amended one year later on October 17, 2019, to permit the sale of edible cannabis, cannabis extracts and cannabis topicals.

The new regulations developed under the Cannabis Act build on and replace the pre-existing Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR), continuing the evolution of access to cannabis in Canada since legal access to dried cannabis for medical purposes was first provided in 1999. However, it was not until the Cannabis Act in 2018 that a system was created to allow access to cannabis for non-medical purposes for adults.

Horizontal initiative

The Horizontal Initiative, Implementing a New Federal Framework for the Legalization and Strict Regulation of Cannabis, was designed to develop, implement, and administer the new federal Framework to legalize and strictly regulate cannabis and to support the Government of Canada’s objectives of:

  • protecting the health of young persons by restricting their access to cannabis;
  • protecting public health and public safety by establishing strict product safety and product quality requirements; and
  • deterring criminal activity by imposing serious criminal penalties for those operating outside the legal Framework

Funded partners under this Initiative include Health Canada (HC) as the lead, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Public Safety Canada (PS), and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

Partner activities are organized under the following five high-level themes:

  1. establish, implement, and enforce the new legislative framework;
  2. provide Canadians with information needed to make informed decisions and minimize health and safety harms;
  3. build law enforcement knowledge and engage partners and stakeholders on public safety;
  4. provide criminal intelligence, enforcement, and related training activities; and
  5. prevent and interdict prohibited cross-border movement of cannabis while maintaining the flow of legitimate travelers and goods

Intended results associated with these five themes are outlined in Annex A.

For HC, intended results linked to public education, awareness, and research under the Horizontal Initiative are also supported by the Substance Use and Addictions Program (SUAP). Since 2018-19, SUAP has been funding community-level initiatives, including in Indigenous communities, to undertake time-limited projects for cannabis public education and awareness. Funding has also been provided to the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) to advance research and evidence on cannabis use, as well as to the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) to assess the impacts of cannabis use on the mental health of Canadians.

As indicated in Table 1, the total federal funding allocation for the Horizontal Initiative is $565,582,044 over five years (April 2017 to March 2022).

In addition, total HC SUAP investment for cannabis over four years (2018-19 to 2021-22) was $69,434,334. Of this amount, $7,670,000 was allocated to CCSA, and $8,443,000 to MHCC. The last year of cannabis related SUAP and transfer payment activities (2022-23) is not reflected in these amounts, as it falls outside the evaluation period.

Full Report: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/corporate/transparency/corporate-management-reporting/evaluation/horizontal-evaluation-legalization-strict-regulation-cannabis-2017-2018-2021-2222.html

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