The High North: New book explores the history of cannabis in Canada

The High North, a new book from UBC Press, is scheduled to be released in May.

A new book coming this spring from UBC Press explores Canada’s path to becoming just the second country in the world to legalize cannabis in 2018, and what has evolved since.

Edited by Andrew D. Hathaway and Clayton James Smith McCann, The High North: Cannabis in Canada features voices ranging from scholars and practitioners to activists and advocates, examining “the run-up to legalization and its aftermath, while disrupting widely accepted narratives about legalization in Canada.”

What does cannabis legalization really mean for the public, governments, and the Canadian legal system? The High North contributors “highlight the neoliberal forces shaping cannabis consumerism. They expose the vested interests of government and industry and the corporate focus on the nascent green dream of profits,” the publishers say.

“Longtime cannabis activist Jodie Emery revisits the activism that led to today’s great social experiment. Historian Catherine Carstairs takes readers back to 1923, when few would even have heard of the substance newly added to the schedule of restricted drugs, through to an examination of today’s cannabis laws. Kanenhariyo Seth LeFort outlines customary cannabis-related practices among the Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawk) First Nation.

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Other contributors include Jason Childs, Kelly Coulter, Sarah Daniels, Michael DeVillaer, George Hartner, Kelly Insley, Karina Lahnakoski, Blair Leamen, Alison McMahon, Michelle St. Pierre, “Sal,” Jared J. Wesley, Jenna Valleriani, Jeannette VanderMarel and Zach Walsh.

“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.”

At 312 pages, and scheduled to be released May 1, The High North: Cannabis in Canada is currently available for pre-order from UBC Press for $89.95.