NORML Canada is a non-profit, public interest, member operated and funded group, chartered at the federal level in Canada since 1978. The organization is committed to eliminating all civil and criminal penalties for private cannabis use.  The use of formal sanctions to discourage cannabis use has been costly and harmful on both a societal and individual level.

Cannabis prohibition disproportionately affected marginalized groups, and the framework for legalization has failed to address these disparities to any meaningful extent. It is noteworthy that Black, Indigenous, disabled, and/or low-income people suffered the harshest effects of criminalization, yet remain underrepresented in the legal market.