Danny Kruger

How to make drugs boring

A former Toronto police chief on controlling drugs by ending their criminalisation

Bill Blair, the former police chief of Toronto, slides into his restaurant chair and twinkles at the waitress. He’s 6ft 6in, white-haired now but perky. Bill has 120 years of policing behind him. He, his father and his grandfather all served 40 years in the force. Now he’s an MP and he’s legalising cannabis in Canada.

The restaurant has been here since early in Bill’s father’s time on the beat. It claims to have invented the bacon cheeseburger. We sit round a plastic-topped table and Bill tells me how he ended up pushing drug reform.

‘When I left the force all three political parties wanted me to run for office. I’ve spent my life avoiding politics and the other parties reminded me why. They just wanted me for political kudos. But Trudeau was different. He asked my advice on policy.’


Danny Kruger, Steve Moore and Peter Hitchens argue the cases for and against cannabis legalisation:


Justin Trudeau, the handsome young leader of Canada’s Liberal party, wasn’t supposed to win the 2015 election. The Liberals were third in the polls, in part because they had a bunch of wacky policies — such as cannabis legalisation. Then, largely because of Trudeau’s telegenic appeal and political savvy, they won.

The streets of Toronto during the annual Marijuana March

A few months before the election, Trudeau asked Bill how he should handle his party’s position on cannabis. The old cop gave him this advice: don’t make it about cannabis. ‘I asked him why he wanted to do it. He said because he didn’t want criminals preying on kids. I said, “That’s the policy. That’s what we need to do.” ’

Cannabis use among young people in Canada is the highest in the world. Almost a quarter of all teenagers are regularly getting high, and while most grow up and grow out of it, some develop mental health problems and many more screw up at school.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in