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Cannabis legalization part of Justin Trudeau’s lasting legacy

Published on March 21, 2025 by Pat Bulmer

Photo: Photo courtesy of Gary Nylander

Cannabis legalization will be one of former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s lasting legacies.

New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute found Canadians view cannabis legalization, COVID-19 response, and expansion of the social safety net as the biggest accomplishments of Trudeau’s near-10 years in office.

“Canadians are largely praising of marijuana legalization,” the polling firm wrote in a news release. “This was a key campaign promise and was implemented on Canada Day in 2018. Half (52%) say this was a success of Trudeau’s term, while 24% say it was a failure.”

Trudeau’s Liberals won a majority government in 2015. One of their key platform planks was legalization of cannabis.

Trudeau, who had previously favoured decriminalization, caught many by surprise in 2013 when he announced in Kelowna: “I’m actually not in favour of decriminalizing cannabis. I’m in favour of legalizing it.

“Tax it, regulate. It’s one of the only ways to keep it out of the hands of our kids because the current war on drugs, the current model is not working. We have to use evidence and science to make sure we’re moving forward on that,” Postmedia News reported him as saying.

On the campaign trail two years later, the Liberals pushed for legalization, while the NDP would only go as far as decriminalization and the Conservatives remained opposed to any loosening of pot laws.

The Tories called for harsher sentences against marijuana traffickers and criticized Trudeau for admitting he “took a puff” at a dinner party while he was an MP in 2008.

In the 2015 Throne speech, Trudeau said legalizing marijuana would fix a “failed system” and help remove the “criminal element” linked to the drug, the Guardian reported at the time.

Courtesy of Gary Nylander

On Oct. 17, 2024, Trudeau posted on Facebook: “Six years ago today, we changed an outdated law, took profits away from criminals, and made our communities safer. We legalized cannabis across Canada.”

Trudeau wasn’t wrong about reducing crime.

A study of cannabis crime rates from 2015 to 2021 found: “Canada’s cannabis legalization was successful in reducing cannabis-related criminalization among adults.

“The implementation of Canada’s Cannabis Act was associated with a significant and sustained 70%-80% decrease in police-reported adult cannabis-related crimes, yielding an approximate reduction of 101,642 police-reported cannabis-related criminal incidents over the three-year post-legalization period,” a group of academics from across the country concluded.

Trudeau’s biggest failures, according to the poll, were immigration, inflation and the carbon tax. Social safety net improvements mentioned in the poll included the child benefit and dental care program.

Trudeau stepped down on March 14.

The online poll was conducted March 4-6.