© 2011 BY THE JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES "THERE'S WHAT'S ON PAPER AND THEN THERE'S WHAT HAPPENS, OUT ON THE SIDEWALK": CANNABIS USERS KNOWLEDGE AND OPINIONS OF CANADIAN DRUG LAWS SERGE BROCHU, CAMERON DUFF, MARK ASBRIDGE, PATRICIA GAIL ERICKSON This paper explores the knowledge and opinions of cannabis users regarding Canadian laws regulating possession of cannabis. Our study is based on data from 165 in-depth interviews with adult cannabis users from four Canadian cities. Our participants revealed a limited awareness of cannabis policy in Canada. When researchers informed them about actual Canadian taws, the majority of participants regarded the specified laws as "harsh," "excessive," "absurd" and/or "ridiculous." In practice, the common experience of participants suggests the existence of two Serge Brochu, Ph.D., is the General Secretary of the International Forum of Public Universities (IFPU) and full professor at the School of Criminology of University of Montreal. He is the co-director of Recherche et intervention sur les substances psychoactives—Québec (RISQ). He also serves as President of the scientific commission of the International Criminology Society and he is a member of the steering committee of the International Association of French Speaking Criminologists (I.A.F.S.C). His research themes are on drugs/crime relationships, treatment of addict offenders, and program evaluation. Cameron Duff, Ph.D., is Monash Fellow in the Social Sciences and Health Research Unit (School of Psychology and Psychiatry) at Monash University, Melbourne Australia. Duff's research interests include the study of place, health and human development with a particular focus on the array of social, affective, and material resources particular places make available to support health and development. Duff has explored these interests in studies of youth development, substance use and mental health in both Canada and Australia using a range of qualitative and ethnographic approaches. Mark Asbridge, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Dalhousie University. His research program is in the areas of addictions, public and population health, and public policy, with a particular interest in the intersection of substance use and various health outcomes, and is informed and critiqued by social science theory. Patricia Gail Erickson, Ph.D., has been a Senior Scientist with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and before that the Addiction Research Foundation, for over 30 years. She is also Adjunct Professor of Sociology and Criminology, and a former Director of the Graduate Collaborative Program in Addiction Studies [CoPAS], at the University of Toronto where she teaches and supervises graduate students. Prior and ongoing research projects have examined the links between drug use and violence in groups of students, at-risk youth, treatment samples and marginalized women. Drug policy and harm reduction continues to be a focus in these projects. JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES 0022-0426/11/01 95-116