Cannabis Amnesty was founded in April 2018 in response to the absence of federal legislation addressing the serious consequences of criminal convictions for actions that would no longer be illegal under the new Cannabis Act. On May 5, 2018, we launched a petition calling upon Parliament to immediately enact legislation granting amnesty to all individuals for the offence of simple possession of cannabis. We argued that for amnesty to be effective, it must be free, automatic, and permanent. With the support of industry leaders, we also sought to improve the lives of those who continued to carry the burden of a criminal conviction for cannabis-related offences long after their sentence has been served.
From 2018 to 2022, we pressed the federal government to enact legislation to delete criminal records relating to the simple possession of cannabis, launched public education campaigns to fight the stigma associated with cannabis convictions and worked on criminal justice reform to make sure that the legal structures that allowed Black and Indigenous communities to be overrepresented in cannabis prosecutions are dismantled. Central to our mission is the belief that legislation must be passed to undo the harms caused by the criminalization of cannabis as well as its unequal enforcement.
The persistence of criminal records impedes reintegration and places unnecessary socio-economic burdens on Canadians. Criminal records have a significant reach and they impact many aspects of a person’s daily life. These include limiting travel, access to social services, loan qualifications, parental rights and much more.
Moreover, maintaining criminal records for actions that are no longer illegal or long after an individual’s debt to society has been paid does nothing for public safety. In fact, the maintenance of criminal records can contribute to recidivism and ultimately makes the public more unsafe. Research shows that there is a link between the maintenance of criminal records and the rates of recidivism. The impact a criminal record has on an individual’s ability to obtain and keep gainful employment is incredibly difficult to overcome. If post-conviction reintegration is truly one of the objectives of our penal system, then our criminal record regime should facilitate reintegration instead of continued punishment.
The Cannabis Amnesty works towards building a world in which everyone, and in particular, the most vulnerable and marginalized communities, are treated fairly and equitably by the justice system and the cannabis industry and are free from the burdens of cannabis convictions. Our approach to justice reform prioritizes the following principles:
Adopting a Racial Justice Lens
Cannabis Amnesty deploys a racial justice lens in all advocacy efforts. Despite similar rates of use across racial groups, Black and Indigenous people are disproportionately stopped, searched, arrested, prosecuted and incarcerated for cannabis possession offences. The insidious ways that cannabis regulation has historically been a vehicle for systemic racism in Canada requires any meaningful redress to employ a racial justice framework. Cannabis Amnesty’s racial justice lens pays close attention to the unequal exercise of discretion and acknowledges the necessity of systemic transformation in order to enact real and meaningful change.
Prioritizing Public Health and Harms Reduction
Cannabis Amnesty believes that drug use should be approached as a social and health issue. Compassionate and health-centered solutions support the individual and, in turn, support society and facilitate pro-social outcomes. Public safety efforts around drug use should prioritize treatment and prevention at their core, not criminalization and punishment.
Bill C-5, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act received Royal Assent on November 17, 2022.
After years of advocacy and measures by the federal government that simply did not go far enough, we finally have through Bill C-5, amnesty for simple cannabis convictions that is free, automatic and permanent. The bill requires that all records of a conviction for simple possession of cannabis must automatically be kept separate and apart from other records of convictions by November 17, 2024, at no cost to the individual. While Bill C-5 does not style the treatment of these records as “expungements”, the record sequestration regime created by the bill will have a comparable effect of permanency. Unlike record suspensions granted under the Criminal Records Act, there is no legislative authority to revoke the automatic record sequestrations granted under Bill C-5.
The achievement of true cannabis amnesty through legislation is incredibly significant. It represents the culmination of the work of our organization. Yet, it does not address all of the collateral consequences of criminal records for cannabis possession and other convictions. To that end, look forward to the implementation of Bill C-5 and encourage continued reforms to Canada’s criminal records regime.
Dana Passmore
Retail Ambassador
Dana Passmore was 20 years old studying criminology when cannabis was first legalized, and it fascinated her to think about how an unprecedented federal legalization framework was going to function following 100 years of prohibition. It wasn’t long before she learned about the shortcomings of the Cannabis Act that caused those with pre-legalization charges for cannabis related offences to be left in a perpetual state of criminalization. Knowing that so many people were (and are) still facing the consequences for engaging in an activity that has since become legal never sat right with her, so she started getting involved in advocacy. Dana pursued a Masters of Public Policy and Administration degree to get a better understanding of how policy tools are selected, developed, and implemented from an institutional standpoint, and has used the critical thinking skills she has gained throughout my education to develop a major research project that sheds light on the socioeconomic shortcomings of Canada’s cannabis legalization framework.
Dana started following Cannabis Amnesty in 2019 after becoming completely enthralled by their advocacy work. After three years of quietly supporting their contributions to the legal cannabis space, in 2022, she began volunteering as Cannabis Amnesty’s Retail Ambassador and works to bring the Cannabis Amnesty mission to the retail space to inspire as much engagement as possible. Dana is a proud cofounder of the first-of-its-kind Joints for Justice initiative that drives profits of an OCS-listed cannabis product to the organization, and will keep working alongside this incredible organization until cannabis criminal records are erased.
Laura Liscio
Project Manager, Pardon Clinic Pilot Project
Laura Liscio has a BA (Honours) from Queen’s University. She was called to the bar in 2009 after attending law school at the University of Calgary. While at law school Laura spent 3 years working at the student legal clinic in various roles, as a group leader mentoring other students, and as a full time summer employee. Upon graduating, she received the Provincial Judges’ Award for outstanding contribution at Student Legal Assistance. She was the Volunteer Coordinator at the Volunteer Lawyer Service run by the Calgary Bar Association, where she matched charities and non-profits with the probono services of lawyers, and was also a frequent volunteer at Inn from the Cold.
Laura knew criminal law was her calling early in her legal career. During law school, she worked at the criminal firm of VanHarten Foster Iovinelli and Joshi where she also completed her articles.
When she returned home to Toronto in 2009, Laura practiced at Bernstein Newman and Associates for 4 years before opening her own practice in Toronto in 2013. Laura has an interest in youth work and the rights of young people in the criminal justice system. She has served as CLA representative at 311 Jarvis for 2 terms.
In her criminal defence practice, Laura successfully defends youth and adults from very serious charges including homicide. She is very passionate about issues surrounding racial profiling, accountability for police misconduct, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the presumption of innocence and the expungement of criminal records (convictions and non-convictions).
Laura joined the Cannabis Amnesty team in 2021 as the Project Manager for the Pardon Clinics Pilot Project, which resulted in the development of the Pardon Clinic Toolkit.
Aisha Abawajy
Aisha (she/her) is a second-generation Canadian with Oromo roots. She starts her second year at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law in the fall. She completed her undergraduate degree in Applied Computer Science with a minor in political science in her hometown Kjipuktuk, Mi’kma’ki (Halifax, Nova Scotia), before moving to Toronto to attend law school. Aisha has been involved in student politics and grassroots organizing since high school. She has most recently been the President of the Dalhousie Student Union (2019 – 2020) and the Co-President of the Black Law Students’ Association (2022 – 2023). Aisha strongly believes that when individuals come together and organize strategically around inequities, system change is possible. As a young abolitionist, Aisha is very interested in the radical transformation of our justice system. She believes that making space for critical conversations on the inequities of society is an important first step in addressing them and develops anti-oppression workshops around social justice, community care, solidarity between movements and more as a freelance facilitator. Aisha is also passionate about music, styling curly or textured hair and mental health.
Theo Rodriguez-Garzon
Theo Rodriguez-Garzon is one of two 2022 TOQi Fellows for Cannabis Amnesty. Their enthusiasm for mutual-aid, advocacy, and community building led them to Cannabis Amnesty, where they hope to utilize their design and content creation skills to advocate for those impacted by cannabis-related convictions.
Before joining Cannabis Amnesty, Theo studied professional communications at Toronto Metropolitan University, and worked as an undergraduate research assistant for the Explanatory Journalism Project. Theo is also a drag artist and performer, hoping to imbue their creative flair into their advocacy work alongside Cannabis Amnesty. They are passionate about art, literature and design, and are eager to put their skills to the service of those advocating for true cannabis amnesty, and equity within the cannabis industry.
Akwasi Owusu-Bempah
Board Member
Akwasi Owusu-Bempah (PhD) is an academic, author and changemaker. He is a professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto, an Affiliate Scientist at Canada’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Race Equity Lead at the Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation and Director of Research for Cannabis Amnesty. He also serves as Chair of the Governing Board of Massey College. Akwasi’s academic work has examined the racialized nature of drug law enforcement in North America. He has collaborated with major media outlets, such as the Toronto Star and Vice News to advance public dialogue about the perils of the war on drugs.
He recently sat as a member of Health Canada’s Expert Task Force on Substance Use and contributed to the City of Toronto’s decriminalization efforts. With an eye on social justice, he is currently exploring how cannabis legalization is being used as a means to redress the various harms caused by drug prohibition. He is the author of Waiting to Inhale: Race, Cannabis and the End of Prohibition with Tahira Rehmatullah (2023, MIT Press).
Akwasi began his academic career in the United States at Indiana University, Bloomington. Prior to becoming a professor, he held positions with Canada’s National Judicial Institute, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and Ontario’s Ministry of the Solicitor General. He frequently appears on radio and tv and publishes regularly in academic and popular forums. Akwasi’s work and commentary has recently been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Guardian, and The Globe and Mail.
Sameena Ibrahim
Director of Marketing and Communications
Board Member
Sameena Ibrahim is a brand and strategy leader with over a decade of global experience working in the sports, lifestyle and cannabis sectors. Her role at Cannabis Amnesty is Director of Marketing & Communications, and she has led the brand re-launch by bringing in the multiple award-winning agency, Cossette, to work on strategy, design and creative for the organization.
Prior to joining Cannabis Amnesty, Sameena was based in Dubai, where she worked at adidas, managing PR and Brand Activations for the iconic sports brand and its subsidiaries across the Middle East and North Africa. Since moving to Toronto in 2019, she has worked in the cannabis industry, building brand and retail strategies while navigating the industry’s constant evolution as an immigrant WOC. She is passionate about equity in the cannabis industry and believes that there is a long way to go in recognizing and undoing the harms that decades of prohibition has caused.
Stephanie DiGiuseppe
Director of Operations
Board Member
Stephanie DiGiuseppe is a founding member of Cannabis Amnesty, a partner at a Toronto litigation firm, and an advocate for systemic change in the areas of criminal justice reform and equality, diversity and inclusion.
Stephanie’s advocacy work spans from reducing barriers and increasing capacities for youth in the criminal justice and school system, lobbying the Canadian government for humane and compassionate justice system reform, and working with communities affected by cannabis prohibition through her work with Cannabis Amnesty.
As Cannabis Amnesty’s Director of Operations, Stephanie has managed key partnerships with industry leaders such as Canopy Growth, Houseplant, Hiku Brands, HEXO, Aurora and others. She has spearheaded some of Cannabis Amnesty’s most exciting projects, including the Doja x Cannabis Amnesty PARDON sub campaign and PARDON truck activation, which was a finalist for the 2019 Canadian Cannabis Award for Top Non-Profit, Charity or Community Initiative.
In the courtroom, Stephanie defends individuals in complex criminal and public law proceedings and has been counsel on some of Canada’s most high profile criminal case. In 2020, Stephanie received the Precedent Setter Award, which recognizes lawyers who have “become masters of their practice areas and agents of change in the community”. In 2022, Stephanie was selected by her peers as one of Canada’s “Best Lawyers” in the area of criminal defence and in 2021 as one of Toronto’s Top Criminal Defence Lawyers by Post City’s TRNTOPublication.
Annamaria Enenajor
Executive Director
Board Chair
Annamaria founded Cannabis Amnesty in 2018 and has been its driving force since its inception. Described by the Toronto Star as a “brilliant, young legal mind,” Annamaria Enenajor is an indefatigable advocate both inside and outside the courtroom. She is a partner at Ruby Shiller Enenajor DiGiuseppe, Barristers, one of Canada’s Top 10 criminal law boutiques according to Canadian Lawyer magazine. She practises criminal, regulatory and constitutional law as well as civil law when it involves state accountability. She has argued before all levels of court in Ontario and at the Supreme Court of Canada. Annamaria graduated from the McGill Faculty of Law as the Principal David L. Johnston Gold Medalist with both common law and civil law degrees in 2012 and subsequently clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada for Chief Justice Richard Wagner.
Annamaria is an outspoken public advocate for evidence-based and compassionate criminal justice reform, and frequently writes, lectures and consults on access to justice and creating a cannabis legalization regime that is equitable and inclusive for all Canadians. Her work has been profiled in Flare, the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, and Toronto Life. She has received numerous awards and recognitions for her public advocacy, including being named one of the 50 most influential Torontonians of 2018 by Toronto Life and one of the 32 Women of the Year in 2018 by Chatelaine.