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CANNABIS LAW REFORM IN CANADA: IS THE "SAGA OF PROMISE, HESITATION AND RETREAT" COMING TO AN END?
Benedikt Fischer
Univeristy of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario
Kari Ala-Leppilampi
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario
Eric Single
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Toronto, Ontario
Amanda Robins
Single and Associates
Toronto, Ontario
The Canadian Federal government has promised legislation that will decriminalize the simple possession of cannabis by the summer of 2003. This paper will first review the socio-historical context as it pertains to the criminalization of cannabis use in Canada. Specifically, it will discuss the numerous (unsuccessful) legal and political attempts at cannabis-control reform in the past 30 years, called "the saga of promise, hesitation and retreat" by Giffen, Endicott, and Lambert (1991: 571). It will then review some distinct forces in the current cannabis law reform debate, namely a series of high-profile court cases, patterns of public opinion, and the recommendations of two federal inquiries, all of which contribute to the momentum for reform. After summarizing the diverse landscape of cannabis-control regimes in other Western countries, this paper will examine more closely the actual options that exist for cannabis decriminalization in Canada and their possible effects and implications. Specifically, making simple cannabis possession a civil offence, as suggested, would provide for both discretionary interpretations and net-widening effects in law enforcement and would, in addition, leave the cannabis supply question unresolved.
CRIME AND DESTINY: PATTERNS IN SERIOUS OFFENDERS' MORTALITY RATES
Pierre Tremblay
École de Criminologie, Université de Montréal
Montréal, Québec
Paul-Phillippe Paré
École de Criminologie, Université de Montréal
Montréal, Québec
Large scale cohort studies suggest that offenders are more likely to experience premature death, We argue, in this paper, that strain, self-control and differential association theories would all predict higher fatality rates among offenders but rely on different processes in order to account for differential outcomes. Whereas low self control theory argues that higher offender mortality rates are unrelated to crime, accident driven, strain theory emphasizes the significance of suicides and overdoses as critical features of offenders' excess mortality. Co-offending research, on the other hand would predict that offenders' higher mortality rates incorporate a significant crime related occupational hazard component.
DOES FAMILY INTERVENTION WORK FOR DELINQUENTS? RESULTS OF A META-ANALYSIS
Craig Dowden
Carleton University
Ottawa, Ontario
D.A. Andrews
Carleton University
Ottawa, Ontario
Previous meta-analyses of the correctional treatment literature have demonstrated that family intervention programs for delinquents are some of the strongest treatment modalities available for this population. However, a recent meta-analysis by Latimer (2001) argued that although family intervention appears to be effective on first glance, when controls are introduced for the methodological quality of the evaluation study, the effects substantially decrease and ultimately disappear under the strictest methodological conditions. The present meta-analysis explored the impact of methodological rigour on family intervention programs for young offenders, but attention was paid to the "appropriateness" of the program (e.g., whether they adhered to the principles of risk, need, and general responsivity). Although the effects of the program were decreased mildly under the strongest methodological conditions, "appropriate" treatment continued to yield significant mean reductions in reoffending. The implications of these finding for the broader literature are discussed.
