Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy
The Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy (CFDP) is a non-profit organization founded in 1993 by several of Canada's leading specialists in drug policy. Its founding members include psychologists, pharmacologists, lawyers, health policy advocates and public policy researchers. The Foundation is funded entirely by its members and by contributions from other organizations with an interest in drug policy reform.
The aims of the Foundation include:
However, the immediate catalyst for the creation of the CFDP was the need to challenge Bill C-85, introduced into Canada's House of Commons in 1992. The Bill would have replaced Canada's Narcotic Control Act and parts of the Food and Drugs Act. These laws made certain activities -- possession, trafficking, cultivating, importing and exporting -- illegal and imposed criminal penalties for violations. The proposed amendment would have continued this policy of prohibition and created new drug offences as well.
Bill C-85 was never enacted; it died when Canada's Conservative government called an election in 1993. However, the Liberal party, which won the 1993 federal election, introduced a virtually identical bill on February 2, 1994. That Bill was called Bill C-7, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Like its predecessor, Bill C-7 died at the end of a Parliamentary session, but the Liberal government revived it as Bill C-8 on March 6, 1996 and sent it to the Senate for review and approval. The Bill became law in May 1997. The Foundation's efforts to reform Canada's drug laws and policies continue.
The aims of the Foundation include:
- acting as a forum for the exchange of views among those interested in reform of drug policies
- serving as a vehicle for sharing those views and for discussing significant drug policy issues with government, the public, other organizations and the media, and
- where necessary, recommending alternatives that will make Canada's drug laws and policies effective and humane.
However, the immediate catalyst for the creation of the CFDP was the need to challenge Bill C-85, introduced into Canada's House of Commons in 1992. The Bill would have replaced Canada's Narcotic Control Act and parts of the Food and Drugs Act. These laws made certain activities -- possession, trafficking, cultivating, importing and exporting -- illegal and imposed criminal penalties for violations. The proposed amendment would have continued this policy of prohibition and created new drug offences as well.
Bill C-85 was never enacted; it died when Canada's Conservative government called an election in 1993. However, the Liberal party, which won the 1993 federal election, introduced a virtually identical bill on February 2, 1994. That Bill was called Bill C-7, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Like its predecessor, Bill C-7 died at the end of a Parliamentary session, but the Liberal government revived it as Bill C-8 on March 6, 1996 and sent it to the Senate for review and approval. The Bill became law in May 1997. The Foundation's efforts to reform Canada's drug laws and policies continue.
