The Canadian Cannabis Story: From Prohibition to Legalization

This story is supported by Rosin Evolution. Sponsorship does not influence Nugg Notes’ editorial research or conclusions.

Canada's cannabis story is one of underground innovation, political resistance and cultural influence. From the early hemp trade to the rise of BC Bud, the country's growers, breeders, activists and hash makers helped shape modern cannabis culture. But legalization in 2018 came after decades of prohibition, underground markets and battles over medical access.

Banned in 1923, Almost Without a Debate

Canada cultivated industrial hemp for commercial purposes, including fibre used in rope and textiles. Cannabis was added to the schedule of the Opium and Narcotic Drug Act in 1923, but the prohibition on growing cannabis without a permit came in 1938. The parliamentary discussion in 1923 was remarkably brief: the Minister of Health simply described cannabis as a new drug being added to the schedule. Emily Murphy's influence on the decision has often been discussed. Although she published warnings about cannabis in The Black Candle in 1922, archival research cited by the Senate concluded that her writings were not behind cannabis being added to the schedule in 1923.

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The Draft Dodgers Who Settled the Kootenays

During the 1960s and 1970s, American draft resisters and other counterculture migrants settled in British Columbia, including the West Kootenays. The region became one of the province's enduring counterculture enclaves. In the decades that followed, British Columbia developed a substantial underground cannabis-growing scene, including indoor and hydroponic cultivation.

In 1972, the Le Dain Commission's majority recommended repealing the prohibition on simple possession and personal cultivation. The recommendation was not unanimous, and Ottawa did not enact the proposed reforms.

Indoors, Under Lights, All Year Round

During the 1980s, growers in British Columbia expanded indoor and hydroponic cultivation, allowing multiple harvests each year. RCMP figures summarized in a 2002 Senate report recorded 31 hydroponic cultivation operations confiscated in BC in 1987 alone.

The Bikers Move In on BC Bud

By the 1990s, BC Bud was crossing the US border in growing quantities. Senate-reviewed RCMP reporting described a flourishing export trade in BC Bud and Quebec Gold by 1994. The same reporting linked outlaw motorcycle gang members or associates to numerous marijuana cultivation operations. A 1997 federal report separately documented Hells Angels involvement in cannabis distribution and hydroponic cultivation.

In Quebec, the Hells Angels and the Rock Machine fought a deadly war over control of drug trafficking beginning in July 1994, when both gangs sought to dominate the Montreal market and other parts of the province.

In 1996, the RCMP traced a Montreal warehouse containing 11,000 plants in full bloom to the Rockers, an outlaw motorcycle gang aligned with the Hells Angels.

Beasters: The Bud That Gave Canada a Bad Name

In the United States, some lower-quality cannabis associated with Canadian imports became known as Beasters. By the early 1990s, the term was used for poorly grown, indica-leaning hybrids, often described as Northern Lights and Skunk crosses. A separate theory links some Beasters to mass-produced M-39 grown in Asian warehouses and shipped through Canada, but the nickname's precise origin remains disputed.

Marc Emery’s Mail-Order Seed Empire

Canada's cannabis culture also developed through an expanding international seed trade. Marc Emery's Marc Emery Direct began taking internet orders in 1994. The U.S. Department of Justice reported that an estimated 75% of the seeds he sold before 2005 were transported to the United States. His operation is one documented example of Canadian seed sellers reaching growers across borders.

Who Actually Invented Bubble Hash?

Vancouver became part of the water-hash story in 1997, when Marcus “Bubbleman” Richardson moved there and began growing for the newly opened BC Compassion Club.

The technique predated Bubble Bags: an instructional advertisement for Sadu Sam's Secret appeared in High Times in August 1987, and Mila Jansen's Ice-O-Lator bags premiered at the 1998 Cannabis Cup.

In March 1999, Richardson launched Bubble Bags through his new company, Fresh Headies. His initial set used three bags rather than the two-bag approach he had encountered with the Ice-O-Lator, helping popularize ice-water extraction among growers and extractors.

The First Dispensary Was a Compassion Club

Medical cannabis activism became another defining part of Canada's underground history.

In 1997, Hilary Black founded the BC Compassion Club Society, which she later identified to a House of Commons committee as Canada's first medical cannabis dispensary.

Activists including Marc Emery, Dana Larsen and David Malmo-Levine challenged prohibition in different arenas — Emery through his international seed business, Larsen through reform campaigns and parliamentary testimony, and Malmo-Levine through a constitutional challenge that reached the Supreme Court of Canada in 2003.

Federal medical access began in 1999 through individual exemptions under Section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. In 2000, the Ontario Court of Appeal's R. v. Parker decision found that the existing exemption system was constitutionally inadequate because it failed to provide reliable access to cannabis for people who needed it for medical purposes. That ruling led to the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations in 2001.

Rick Simpson Gave It Away for Free

Nova Scotia's Rick Simpson popularized concentrated cannabis oil, later called RSO. He gave it away freely to all the sick who came.

October 17, 2018: Canada Goes Legal — Second in the World

On October 17, 2018, Canada's Cannabis Act came into force, making Canada the second country in the world to legalize cannabis for non-medical purposes nationwide, following Uruguay in 2013.

Legalization did not automatically erase previous convictions. Canada later introduced an expedited record-suspension process for people with only simple-possession cannabis convictions who have completed their sentences. A record suspension sets a conviction aside rather than erasing it. Nor did legalization automatically bring legacy growers into the regulated industry. A 2024 federal expert-panel review identified significant barriers facing small legacy producers seeking entry into the legal market.

Canada's cannabis history was shaped by more than legalization. Hemp cultivation, underground growing, BC Bud, international seed trading, bubble hash and medical cannabis activism all contributed to the country's influence on modern cannabis culture.

The transition to a legal market changed the industry, but it did not erase the people, communities and underground networks that helped build it.

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Sources

1. Senate of Canada. Special Committee on Illegal Drugs: Final Report, vol. 2, chapter 12. — Cannabis added to the schedule in 1923; the brief parliamentary discussion; Emily Murphy, The Black Candle (1922) and the archival research the Senate cites; the Le Dain Commission.
2. Health Canada. “Hemp and the Hemp Industry: Frequently Asked Questions.” — Industrial hemp's fibre uses, the 1938 prohibition on cultivation, research cultivation from 1961, and the first commercial licences in 1998.
3. BC Studies. “Welcome to Resisterville: American Dissidents in British Columbia.” — American draft resisters and counterculture migrants settling in BC, including the West Kootenays enclave.
4. Lafrenière, Gérald, and Leah Spicer. Illicit Drug Trends in Canada 1980–2001: A Review and Analysis of Enforcement Data. Senate of Canada. — 31 hydroponic operations confiscated in BC in 1987; the flourishing BC Bud / Quebec Gold export trade by 1994; outlaw motorcycle gang members or associates linked to numerous cultivation operations; the 1996 Montreal warehouse of 11,000 plants traced to the Rockers.
5. Government of Canada. 1997 Annual Report on Organized Crime in Canada: Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. — The Hells Angels–Rock Machine conflict beginning in July 1994 over control of drug trafficking in Montreal and other parts of Quebec; the report separately describes Hells Angels involvement in distributing cocaine, cannabis, LSD and PCP, as well as hydroponic marijuana cultivation.
6. Weedmaps. “What Are Beasters?” — The Beasters nickname; early-1990s Northern Lights / Skunk descriptions; the separate M-39 theory; the disputed origin.
7. U.S. Department of Justice. “Canadian Who Shipped Millions of Marijuana Seeds to U.S. to Appear in Federal Court in Seattle.” May 20, 2010. — Marc Emery Direct operating since 1994, taking seed orders over the internet; an estimated 75% of seeds sold before 2005 transported to the United States.
8. Leaf Magazines. “Cannthropology: Bubble Hash Backstory.” — Richardson's 1997 move to Vancouver and growing for the BC Compassion Club; Sadu Sam's Secret advertisement (High Times, August 1987); Ice-O-Lator bags premiered at the 1998 Cannabis Cup; Bubble Bags launched through Fresh Headies in March 1999; his initial three-bag set improved on the two-bag approach and later expanded to eight bags.
9. House of Commons, Standing Committee on Health. Evidence No. 68. September 15, 2017. — Hilary Black: founder of the first medical cannabis dispensary in the country, founded in 1997 (BC Compassion Club Society); Dana Larsen's testimony as a reform campaigner and dispensary operator.
10. Supreme Court of Canada. R. v. Malmo-Levine; R. v. Caine, 2003 SCC 74, [2003] 3 S.C.R. 571. — Identifies David Malmo-Levine as a self-described marihuana/freedom activist, documents his involvement with the Harm Reduction Club, and records the constitutional challenge decided by the Court in 2003.
11. Shim, Minsup, et al. “Lessons from 20 Years of Medical Cannabis Use in Canada.” PLOS ONE, 2023. — Section 56 exemptions first granted in 1999; the 2000 Parker ruling; the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations in 2001.
12. Health Canada. Horizontal Evaluation of the Legalization and Strict Regulation of Cannabis. — The Cannabis Act came into force October 17, 2018; Canada the second country after Uruguay (2013) to legalize non-medical cannabis.
13. Parole Board of Canada. “What Is a Cannabis Record Suspension?” — Eligibility requires completed sentences and only simple-possession cannabis convictions; a record suspension sets a record aside and does not erase the conviction.
14. Health Canada. Cannabis Act Legislative Review — Final Report of the Expert Panel (tabled March 22, 2024). — The Expert Panel's review of the Cannabis Act, including the barriers facing small legacy producers entering the regulated industry.
15. Hager, Steve. “Rick Simpson’s Hemp-Oil Medicine.” High Times, January 2010 (print). Plus: Support Rick Simpson Fundraiser — Hager's profile reports that Simpson distributed his cannabis oil freely and without charge. The GoFundMe documents the oil as the extract widely known as RSO (Rick Simpson Oil) and the fundraising appeal for his medical expenses.

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