Contemporary Canada has been deeply affected by the War on Drugs. Yet drugs and drug law enforcement are not new. How do nation and identity factor into early 20th century Canadian attitudes towards drug usage and law enforcement?
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Canadian attitudes toward drug usage and who used drugs were highly affected by their views on nation and identity. The white anglo-canadian majority did not view the Chinese as Canadian and saw them in certain racial terms. Being seen as aliens and unassimilable, meant that the Chinese did not fit into the national identities that were presented by a majority white government, which meant that the chinese became the target of racial stereotyping. This racial stereotyping could take place due to the general lack of economic and political power that the CHinese community had in general and the isolated, foreign nature of the chinese immigrants in European eyes.
Being viewed as different, exotic, alien and unable to assimilate, fears developed such as the myth of the Yellow Peril, the idea that chinese were feminine, deceptive people. Mackenzie’s report in the aftermath of the Anti-Asian riots created a link between drug use and the increasingly negative image of the CHinese. Drug usage, seen as a cause of the disruptive Anti-Asian riots was seen as a negative aspect of a negative racial community… But it was the fear that drugs would transfer from the CHinese to the whites or be used by Chinese to seduce white women, that created incentive for law enforcement. Thus, Opium therefore became the target of the RCMP.
Hence, Canadian national identity of what constituted as ‘part of Canada’ or ‘not foreign’ played an essential part in ostracizing the Chinese, which led to the Anti-Asian riots, which in its aftermath, linked the Chinese to the drug trade. This resultant fear of this foreign group led to law enforcement policies that targeted the chinese and opium users.
The Chinese were especially targeted during the War on Drugs period. the RCMP devoted their full attention to the drug problem, resulted by racist discourses against Asian-Canadians. Identity factors played a big role towards the attitudes and drug usage in the 20th century in various ways. For example, opium was seen as a symbol of assault on white race. King’s report also created stereotypical beliefs about the Chinese such as “Chinese men are dangerous to white women and seen as unmanly” They were also seen as unable to become assimilated into the Canadian culture. Emily Murphy’s work also reinforced the view that Chinese were “bad” and deeply affecting our nation.
Much attention was made to the Chinese in the 1920s b/c of all these factors; this impacted law enforcement. There was the typical view that those who used opium were those at the bottom b/c of race/class background, and that the CHinese were the “worst offenders”. The RCMP even hired “spy’s/informants” to watch those suspected of being in the drug trade. As shown in Steve Hewitt’s article, the # of Chinese people convicted was much higher than Caucasian’s.
All of the negative stereotypes reflected the laws put in place towards the drug problem in the 20th century; not only did it specifically target Asian-Canadian’s, it resulted in many being deported and/or doing jail time for something they may not have necessarily been apart of.
Concepts of national identity deeply played into the relationship that existed between law enforcement and drug use in the early 20th century.
In the early 20th century before the passage of legislation like the Opium Act in 1908 there was little concern over drug use in Canada. However after the 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver William Lyon Mackenzie investigated opium use as one of the agitating factors in the riots. Before the riots opium use had often been tolerated so long as it remained confined to Chinese communities, however a perceived increase in the amount of white men and women using the drug scared many authorities and resulted in a moral panic of sorts against the drug trade as a threat to “good” (white) boys and girls who it was feared would be sucked into the “slavery” of drug culture. This shows that white-Canadians at the time viewed themselves as distinct from ethnic groups like the Chinese and other non-Europeans. This shows the importance that certain kinds of identity had in defining what was Canadian in the early 20th century.
The issue of drug use, specifically opium use, was a racially charged issue that seemingly pitted the “yellow menace” of Chinese opium users against the bold, righteous, and white RCMP out to enforce morality and order against the anarchy and sin that opium was said to induce. Opium was cast specifically as a Chinese drug in order to frame it as a threat to Canadian identity. In enforcing laws like the ONDA the RCMP specifically targeted Chinese individuals often turning a blind eye to any whites that were found in similar situations. All this shows how a white, masculine national identity was enforced through the RCMP by “othering” Chinese individuals and targeting them as a corrupting influence to Canadian society. As well, the RCMP’s involvement in monitoring the drug trade was the result of a existential crisis that threatened their future in Canada. By having the RCMP step into the war on drugs they could be used to perpetuate a “proper” show of power by the federal government. The RCMP’s involvement in the drug war int he 1920s was very important to building the dominant idea of what Canadian identity was.
Early 20th century Canada was mostly unconcerned about drug use, but the Anti-Asian Riots of 1907 in Vancouver caused a shift in attitude. Canada’s attitude towards drugs, opium in particular, became racially charged. Prior to the riots, law enforcement turned a blind eye to opium use, as long as it was confined to Chinese communities. The Chinese communities in question were ostracized by Canadians, with the sentiments surrounding most Canadians was that Chinese people in Canada were not considered Canadians. Furthermore, the Chinese community wasn’t exceptionally influential, neither economically nor politically, so they were often racially profiled by a majority white Canada and Canadian government.
Sorry, sent that too early. Part 2:
After the Anti-Asian riots, the Canadian government blamed opium use for being one of the mitigating factors that contributed to the riots. RCMP and other law enforcement specifically targeted Chinese people, incarcerating them for drug usage and other petty crimes, while propagating their white supremacy by ignoring drug use by white citizens. Overall, Chinese Canadians in the early 1900’s were prosecuted at a significantly higher rate than Caucasian Canadians, even with a much smaller population. This highlight’s Canada’s ethnocentrism in the early century.
National identity was a key target during the War on Drugs period. Canadian attitudes towards drug usage and law enforcement were greatly influenced by this national identity, the Chinese. The Chinese were seen as menaces that brought opium and other narcotics from abroad. This is classified by the Anglo-Canadians as assault on Canada. The Chinese were discriminated against and singled out because this was the ongoing belief. In the eyes of the RCMP and the law, the Chinese introduced such drugs in Canada. It was a “Chinese drug” and set apart from other “white drugs”.
The stereotype that began to circulate was that the Chinese were unassimilable Asians. This stereotype caused hatred amongst their group. They topped the list of the most despised people in Canada. The Chinese were not treated right during this period. The majority of the arrests for drugs were Chinese people and the Anglo Canadian RCMP’s arrested them turning the other way to many whites that were also in possession or under the influence of drugs. Opium was threatening Canadian national identity, it was sought to undermine societal stability so in 1923, the Chinese exclusion Act was their solution. The Anglo-Canadians blocked further Chinese from entering into Canada and those who remained here were deported if necessary. This really emphasized that drugs were not a part of Canadian identity, and the RCMP and law enforcement made this very clear.
Up until the anti-Asian riots in 1907, drug use in Canada was viewed as being socially acceptable, however, it was the anti-Asian riots, which made the Canadian government take a step back and figure something had to be done to protect the middle class Canadians from drug use. In 1908 Mackenzie drafted the opium act to prohibit the drug, then in 1911 the act was edited to include usage of the drug, keying in on the crime not the act. When world war I ended in 1918, according to Steve Hewitt, the RCMP needed to justify it’s existence by starting a war on drugs in the 1920’s, inspired by racist discourses against Asian-Canadians when there was a great fear towards challenges to the Anglo-Canadian dominance. The war on drugs included propaganda and slander towards the Asian-Canadians to protect the middle class Canadians. The Asian-Canadians were blamed for drug usage, and faced much racism, as well as some casualties.
Much of the Canadian attitudes towards drug usage and law enforcement were very specific and focused. Firstly, law enforcement was given many tools to target those involved with drugs. The fact that they were guilty until proven innocent showed the bias against drug users and dealers. As with many of the other advantages given to law enforcement(such as not needing a search warrant), the government and law enforcement tried to do almost anything to discourage and get rid of the criminal drug problem.
All these disadvantages against drugs were implemented specifically because of who they saw that was involved with drugs. They mainly saw Chinese being heavily involved, even Chinese-Canadians. They specifically did not see them as Canadian. All of their efforts were made to prosecute and convict them because they saw them as the worst offenders and paid minimal attention to others, namely Caucasians. White people, especially white Canadians and the drugs associated with them were not the focus of many investigations. There was a stigma attached with the Chinese and opiates. Attitudes towards them were heavily against them especially when considering the advantages given to law enforcement so that they could go after and prosecute them. This focus was a result after the Anti-Asian riots in 1907. Prior to the riots, attitudes towards drug use were not as heavily opposed. Attitudes had changed because they wanted to protect the White middle class.
Throughout the early 20th century, Canadians attitudes towards drug usage and law enforcement has greatly impacted how they view themselves as a nation. Similar to the rest of Canada, the white Anglo-Canadian majority looked down on any visible minorities. In BC, they were especially racist toward people of Chinese background. This was because Anglo-Canadians considered them to not be able to assimilate into their culture, since the Chinese are so unlike the “Canadian norm”.
During the War on Drugs, RCMP officers were focused on fixing this “drug problem” and constantly targeted people of Chinese background. Opium was viewed as a way to negatively impact the “pure-ness” of white Anglo-Canadians. It was believed that the Chinese men smoked opium because then they can “have their way” with Anglo-Celtic women. In other words, the white Anglo-Canadians had a fear of the Chinese people negatively affecting their females. It was believed that people of Chinese background were the lowest in the social hierarchy, which reflected in how the RCMP officers were ranked. For example, Chinese people could be hired as spies to watch suspects. However, RCMP officers with backgrounds from the UK, were usually portrayed as heroes. For example, they were portrayed in a patriarchal role where they are protecting the vulnerable population – the women and the children.
Overall, the RCMP made a significant impact in forming Canadian identity because of their involvement in the War on Drugs.
Before 1907, drug use was legal in Canada. The anti-asian riots in 1907 brought the threat of the increased population of Chinese-Canadians to the attention of the anglo-Canadian people in government. The use of opium was tolerated across Canada with the condition that it only be present within Chinese communities until 1908 when the Opium Act was enacted. Acting as a defence line for Anglo- Canadians against drug crimes, the RCMP believed this act, and the edited versions after were to protect “Canadians”, or white middle class, from themselves. These acts were very targeted against specific drugs and the later increase in imprisonment times allowed for a more direct and assertive approach to the use of drugs in the 20th century and beyond. The sudden implement of the anti-drug laws changed the national identity as being more defensive because Canada was the first country to make drugs illegal. The war on drugs impacted Canadian identity stating that the RCMP would not allow the use of drugs or other illegal products anymore, and in the early 20th century if suspicious or harmful drugs were introduced, the government would immediately act. This shows a no-nonsense identity to be associated with Canada.
As we saw in Berger’s article, Canadian nationalism was heavily based on ethnicity and race in the late 19th century. The strong and masculine “northern” race was praised and considered the most adapted to live in Canada. The idea was still persisting in the early 20th century and obviously had an impact on law enforcement, especially concerning the “war on drugs” fought by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Canada started to realize that drug usage and trade was a growing issue and decided to enforce the Opium and Narcotics Drug Act (ONDA). Firstly, drug was compared to communism, as an external threat infecting Canada from abroad, but after the anti-Asian riots in Vancouver, Chinese-Canadians were held responsible for drug addiction and trafficking.
The RCMP enforced the ONDA according to the idea that the Chinese-Canadian community was perverting the Anglo-Canadian citizens with their opium, especially for having their way with Anglo-Celtic women. Consequently, “drug narratives” appeared in order to portray opium as an assault against the purity of the “white” race, and demonized the Chinese community. The “yellow peril” ideology pictured the Chinese as deceitful and evil who would eventually take over and destroy Anglo-Canadian identity, gave the state and the RCMP a reason to beat the Chinese with the ONDA. Indeed, people of Chinese background usually topped the list of arrests under the ONDA. The name of the law itself was directly aimed at stigmatizing the Chinese community, making a distinction between opium considered as a Chinese drug and other drugs. All this racist rhetoric helped the construction of several acts limiting immigration from Asian countries.
The racist aspect of drug law enforcement could be seen not only in who was targeted by the law in priority, but also in who was to enforce this law. Indeed, members of the RCMP were almost exclusively from Ango-Celtic background in the first decades of the 20th century. They were seen by the Ango-Canadian community as a symbol of strong and masculine white men, leading a crusade against evil Asians, whom did not fit the assimilable type of immigrants, because they were too different from the Anglo-Canadian norm. Moreover, even though immigrants such as Eastern Europeans mostly were recruited as undercover agents, the RCMP only used those from Chinese backgrounds as informants, which was the lowest category in drug enforcement forces. This shows one more time the racist ideology spreading in early 20th century Canada, through law enforcement towards drugs.
In the early 20th century, Canada was undergoing a number of changes that would shape the country going forward. Many of these changes were aimed at forming a national identity, something that Canada had always struggled to define. Through this process of forming a national identity, certain groups were identified as negative influences on this progression, and were targeted as such. An example of one of these groups is Chinese immigrants, who were growing in numbers in British Columbia in the late 19th century. This growing number of Chinese immigrants led to many headaches for the government officials tasked with forming this national identity.
One area where Canadian officials and Chinese migrants came into conflict was over drugs and drug legislation, specifically with the use of opium. Many Chinese were habitual opium smokers, and this was an area that the Canadian government targeted in order to reduce the Chinese influence on young white men and women. In 1908, opium was made illegal in Canada, and the battle between Chinese opium smokers and opium den owners and the law enforcement agents began. This conflict was rooted in the belief of the Canadian government that the Chinese would never assimilate fully into Canadian culture, and so keeping them on the fringes of society was important. The drug offensive led by the Mounties was an attempt to save the emerging Canadian ideals from the “cunning” and “deceitfulness” of the Chinese opium smokers.
Throughout the post confederation era in Canada, the ongoing main motif of national identity was one of the strong, true northern white man. During the early 1900s, the Canadian RCMP try to find a way to appeal back to the public because the need for this kind of police force was needed less and less due to the rise of provincial police forces. The perfect way for them to do this was to find an issue to fight against, which conveniently, at the time was an increase of drug use, mainly opium, which was seen to have been brought in by the Chinese. Simultaneously, the increase of Chinese immigrants was unwanted by the white community.
The RCMP would, of course, use this situation to their advantage. They would end the “war on drugs” by manipulating the scene so that they would be seen as the heroes and the yellow skin man as the villain. Anti-Asian Riots, such as the “Yellow Peril”, were ensued to “stop the yellow man”. Some Chinese were even deported as a result. This also continued to shape the “white” identity to Canada that the nation was trying so hard to seek.