The High North: Cannabis in Canada

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."

Introduction: Can Someone Tell Me What Just Happened? / Andrew D. Hathaway and Clayton James Smith McCann

Part 1: Cannabis in Context: Historical, Political, and Economic Factors

1 From Prohibition to Legalization: Cannabis Use and the Law / Catherine Carstairs

2 Cannabis-Policy Integration and Alignment: Missed Opportunities and Obstacles to Collaborative Governance / Jared J. Wesley

3 Displacing the Illicit Cannabis Market: Challenges and Trade-offs / Jason Childs and George Hartner

4 Medical Cannabis Dispensaries: A Conduit for Change? / Jenna Valleriani

Part 2: Cannabis and Public Health: A Multidisciplinary View

5 Cannabis Legalization: Déjà Vu All over Again? / Michael DeVillaer

6 Cannabis Substitution: The Canadian Experience / Michelle St. Pierre, Sarah Daniels, and Zach Walsh

7 Cannabis and Mental Health: A Sociological Perspective / Andrew D. Hathaway

8 Help Wanted: The Plight of Workers and Consumers under Canada's Legal Cannabis Production Regime / Clayton James Smith McCann

Part 3: Cannabis Subjectivities: An Array of Voices

9 Women in Corporate Cannabis Work

From a Good House to Good Farm / An interview with Jeannette VanderMarel

Building Consumer Trust in a Nascent Industry / Karina Lahnakoski

Cannabis Jobs in Canada / Alison McMahon

10 Last Stop Before Hopeless / Kelly Insley

11 Dusting Off the Path – Tsi Nionkwarihotens / Kanenhariyo Seth LeFort

12 Slow Cannabis / Kelly Coulter

13 Illicit Cannabis Market Folklore

Guilty Republic / Clayton James Smith McCann

For the Discriminating Traveller / "Sal"

14 Cannabis Activism in Canada: Reflections on a Movement in Transition / Jodie Emery

Postscript: "Craft" Cannabis and a New Kind of Canadian Farm / Andrew D. Hathaway and Clayton James Smith McCann

List of Contributors; Index

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