Drug Legalization, Democracy and Public Health: Canadian Stakeholders' Opinions and Values with Respect to the Legalization of Cannabis.

This article presents a qualitative exploratory study examining the opinions and values of three Canadian stakeholder groups—people with lived experience of addiction, clinicians experienced in addiction treatment, and members of the general public—regarding the legalization of cannabis in Canada. Conducted through 48 semi-structured interviews shortly after the enactment of the Cannabis Act in 2018, the study found that while most participants favored legalization, their reasons varied: clinicians emphasized health risks and addiction potential, people with lived experience highlighted personal autonomy and the need for quality information, and the public focused on the impact of addiction on others. The research underscores the complexity of democratic public health debates, noting tensions between harm-reduction and de-normalization approaches, the role of scientific evidence intertwined with values, and the importance of including diverse experiential perspectives in policy discussions. Limitations include the study's sample size and timing prior to the legalization of cannabis edibles, but the findings contribute to understanding stakeholder diversity in attitudes toward cannabis legalization in Canada.