The High North: Cannabis in Canada

Andrew D. Hathaway · Clayton James Smith McCann

May 2022 · UBC Press

About this ebook

The High North is a groundbreaking collection of essays that shakes up widely accepted narratives about marijuana legalization in Canada. In 2018, Canada became only the second country in the world to legalize cannabis. Once shunned, cannabis users are now eagerly courted as customers. What has cannabis legalization meant for the general public, governments, and the Canadian legal system? The contributors, cannabis scholars and “practitioners,” activists and advocates, examine public policy on cannabis, analyze consumer perceptions, and recount the history of the legalization movement. From the first appearance of cannabis in Canada and the advent of current-day dispensaries, to the mental health implications of legal weed and the plight of workers in the cannabis economy, The High North offers a comprehensive critique of the many aspects of legalization. To quote the Grateful Dead: “What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been.”

About the author

Andrew D. Hathaway teaches in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Guelph. He researches cannabis use in marginalized and mainstream populations, including experiences of users, and has published widely on normalization, harm reduction, and social policy implications. He is the author of the textbook Drugs and Society. Clayton James Smith McCann is currently a doctoral candidate in cultural anthropology at McMaster University. His longitudinal research project investigating cannabis production communities advocates for a national cannabis appellations program to protect the small-scale cannabis farmer, and five decades of knowledge and genetics issuing from such production contexts.

Contributors: Catherine Carstairs, Jason Childs, Kelly Coulter, Sarah Daniels, Michael DeVillaer, Jodie Emery, George Hartner, Kelly Insley, Karina Lahnakoski, Kanenhariyo Seth LeFort, Alison McMahon, Michelle St. Pierre, "Sal," Jared J. Wesley, Jenna Valleriani, Jeannette VanderMarel, Zach Walsh