Brief History of Drug Use Lecture 7 PDF

Brief History of Drug Use: Lecture 7 Eric Collins, Ph.D. School of Health Studies Western University  Land Acknowledgement We acknowledge that Western University is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, and Chonnonton Nation...

Brief History of Drug Use: Lecture 7 Eric Collins, Ph.D. School of Health Studies Western University  Land Acknowledgement We acknowledge that Western University is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, and Chonnonton Nations, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum  Lecture Overview Tobacco ◦ Revisit the Indian Act ◦ Growth and production ◦ Resistance and the temperance movement ◦ Tobacco Restraint Act ◦ World Wars I & II Alcohol ◦ Revisit the Indian Act ◦ Colonization and normalization ◦ Consumption ◦ Resistance and the temperance movement ◦ Prohibition and regulation  Alcohol Prohibition and Tobacco Regulation ◦ Alcohol and tobacco are the most harmful substances in relation to our health ◦ More people in Canada use alcohol and tobacco than any other drug ◦ Alcohol and tobacco are legal and regulated efforts to criminalize alcohol for any length of time ultimately failed in Canada ◦ No international treaties regulating alcohol ◦ Global regulations on tobacco control are weak  Tobacco ◦ Tobacco products have changed over the years ◦ Nicotiana rustica ◦ Nicotiana tabacum  Tobacco 1895 – Indian Act ◦ Further suppressed Indigenous cultural and spiritual practices ◦ Illegal for Indigenous peoples in Canada to sell tobacco from their farms ◦ Prohibition of tobacco did not stop Indigenous peoples from using the plant ◦ Tobacco use remained hidden from outsiders  Tobacco ◦ Tobacco growing expanded in Canada in the 1800s ◦ Québec and Ontario became commercial tobacco growing centres ◦ 1858 – William C. Macdonald opened the first tobacco factory in Canada (near Montréal) ◦ Canadian Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) sought to prohibit the use of tobacco in cigarette form ◦ 1882 – Poster by the WCTU lists the harms to youth ◦ Moral depravity, cheating, lying, insanity, and loss of manhood TOBACCO  Tobacco Despite… ◦ WCTU’s efforts to “sound the alarm” ◦ Private member’s bill to ban the manufacture and sale of cigarettes (Conservative MP in 1908 in Parliament) ◦ Tobacco use in all its forms was popular in Canada, especially among men 1908 - Tobacco Restraint Act ◦ Forbade the sale of cigarettes to anyone under the age of 16 ◦ First offence resulted in a reprimand ◦ Second offence resulted a one-dollar fine ◦ A slap-on-the-wrist compared to the penalties for violating the Opium and Drug Act of 1911 ◦ Liberal Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier sought to protect domestic tobacco growers from foreign competition TOBACCO  Tobacco World Wars I & II Demands for cigarettes grew Soldiers were provided free cigarettes Cigarettes were commercially produced, legal, and popular  Tobacco ◦ Still legal to purchase in Canada ◦ Must be over 18 or 19 years of age ◦ Sold in variety of places ◦ Heavily taxed ◦ Restrictions on the packaging of tobacco products ◦ Graphic health warnings 1997 – Tobacco Products Act ◦ Regulates the sale and production of tobacco products in Canada ◦ Canadian adults can grow up to 15 kilograms of tobacco per year for their own personal use ◦ Unlike the penalties for violating the Canadian Drugs and Substances Act, civil fines are the norm for contravening the Tobacco Act  Alcohol 1876 – Indian Act ◦ Earlier colonial legislation that banned the sale and barter of alcohol to Indigenous peoples was consolidated under Liberal Prime Minister John A. Macdonald ◦ Indigenous peoples did not consume alcohol prior to colonization ◦ White settlers consumed alcohol (French & British) Alcohol was normalized ◦ Prior to industrialization, beer was considered nutritious ◦ Beer was an integral component of social life, especially for Western men ◦ In many European countries, water was unsafe to drink, especially in towns and cities ◦ In some areas, beer and wine were believed to be safer to drink than water ◦ Beer and wine were transported from Europe, so the passengers could drink a “safe” and “nutritious” beverage  Alcohol ◦ French and British settlers also brought spirits ◦ Rum, brandy, and whiskey ◦ Wine and beer drinking was not confined to the evening ◦ Alcohol was consumed in the workplace ◦ It is believed that alcohol consumption increased in the 1700s ◦ In the War of 1812, soldiers were allocated a daily ration of alcohol ◦ New mothers were encouraged to drink in order to aid breastfeeding ◦ Clubs and taverns ◦ Wealthy men ◦ Poor and working-class-men  Alcohol ◦ Beer and wine were brewed at home ◦ Commercial production began, and small breweries developed slowly ◦ In the early 1800s, drinking to excess was not frowned upon ◦ Many past Canadian politicians were notorious drinkers ALCOHOL  Alcohol 1878 – Canadian Temperance Act ◦ Allowed cities and counties across Canada to hold a plebiscite on prohibition ◦ Only needed one quarter of the electors in the area to vote in favour of alcohol prohibition ◦ New Brunswick and Ontario ◦ Many counties voted to ban alcohol ◦ These bans were short-lived ◦ Communities later voted to sell and consume alcohol  Alcohol 1883 – Canadian Woman’s Christian Temperance Union ◦ White middle-and-upper-class women ◦ Alcohol was viewed as an evil substance and the root cause of many societal ills ◦ Taverns were also framed as conflicting with the needs of industrialization and early capitalism ◦ Women’s public drinking was constructed as immoral and an affront to women’s virtue ◦ Christian moral reformers regarded sobriety and self- control as the template for citizenship in the Dominion ◦ Canadian churches, with mainly white and Protestant members were also at the forefront ◦ In Canada, the temperance movement was anti- Catholic, anti-French, and against Catholic immigrants  Alcohol ◦ Public support for the temperance movement waxed and waned in the early 1900s ◦ The Great War (World War I) brought about change in thinking about alcohol ◦ Alcohol prohibition became linked to patriotism and the war effort ◦ Temperance movement received a huge boost ◦ Canadians started to perceive the characteristics of a strong nation at war as a sober one ◦ Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Alberta, and Ontario went dry  Alcohol Canada ◦ Only enacted federal legislation to limit the manufacture and importation of alcohol into provinces where it was already illegal to purchase ◦ Provinces regulated sales and consumption of alcohol ◦ Federal Government regulated the production and trading of alcohol (effective from March 1918 until the end of 1919) ◦ Retail businesses that sold alcohol were banned ◦ Drinking establishments were banned ◦ Loopholes ◦ Private consumption of alcohol remained legal, and in some provinces, domestic wine was not banned ◦ Canadians could still buy alcohol at licensed wholesalers and government-run dispensaries ◦ The main focus of alcohol prohibition was to curb public drinking  Alcohol End of the federal ban (1919) ◦ Rum-runners, bootleggers, and border-runners were more firmly in place to transport alcohol to dry areas in Canada and U.S.A. Sam Bronfman ◦ Engaged in the liquor trade during the Great War ◦ 1928 – Consolidated his Montréal distillery with Seagram and Sons in Waterloo ◦ 1933 – Seagram became the most successful exporter of whisky in the world  Alcohol Following the end of the federal ban (1919) ◦ Several provinces imposed alcohol prohibition for longer periods of time ◦ Many municipalities were against the repeal of prohibition because it would end the steady stream of income accumulated from fines ◦ Temperance ideology also became more widespread and entrenched in Canada, but far from universal acceptance ◦ Most Canadians believed that moderate drinking was possible and pleasurable ◦ Provincial governments imposed strict regulations on the sale of alcohol, including the establishment of government-run retail stores and liquor control boards ◦ Prince Edward Island held on to prohibition right up until 1948  Alcohol Alcohol prohibition in Canada had several negative impacts ◦ Much police corruption, less respect for laws, and illegal trade flourished ◦ Entrepreneurs illegally transported alcohol to dry areas in Canada and the U.S.A. ◦ Dramatic increases in the number of illegal alcohol stills and the production of unregulated alcohol products ◦ Rum-running and boarder-crossing became a viable occupation for many Canadians, especially in economically depressed areas such as the Maritimes ◦ Many widowed women with dependants sold alcohol to locals in order to provide for their families Regulation ◦ Canada chose to legally regulate alcohol instead of criminalizing it, despite its associated health and social related harms ◦ Canadians are not universally accepting of alcohol ◦ Morality still shapes our attitudes towards the drug ◦ Dry communities still exist in Canada (and the U.S.A.)  Lecture Takeaways o Tobacco has a long history in North America, especially for o Alcohol was introduced to Indigenous peoples of the Indigenous peoples new world by European settlers o European settlers enjoyed smoking tobacco o Alcohol was traded to Indigenous peoples for valuable items such as fur o Tobacco production and commercialization o Earliest form of prohibition in Canada target o Tobacco is incredibly toxic Indigenous peoples o Alcohol was a staple of European society o Resistance and the temperance movement o Resistance and the temperance movement o Tobacco is still legal, but it’s heavily regulated o Prohibition and regulation