Blame avoidance and the implementation of ambiguity in Canadian cannabis legalization
Canadian cannabis legalization was destined to produce implementation gaps: it is a wicked policy issue, imbued with moral connotations, involving multiple levels of government, and formulated in an uncertain context. Those factors all pave the way for policy ambiguities. But why do these ambiguitie...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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2025-03-01
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| Series: | International Review of Public Policy |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/irpp/5012 |
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| author | Maude Benoit Gabriel V. Lévesque |
| author_facet | Maude Benoit Gabriel V. Lévesque |
| author_sort | Maude Benoit |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Canadian cannabis legalization was destined to produce implementation gaps: it is a wicked policy issue, imbued with moral connotations, involving multiple levels of government, and formulated in an uncertain context. Those factors all pave the way for policy ambiguities. But why do these ambiguities appear? How do they shape the behavior of policy stakeholders? In this paper, we argue that, in order to manage the unique challenges of cannabis legalization, governments and central agencies rely on preemptive blame avoidance strategies. Ambiguities ensuing from the use of those strategies in turn enhance the responsibilities of implementers, while also limiting their capacity. We narrow down our analysis to the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, who have two contrasting regulatory models. Using data from semi-structured interviews and the grey literature, we highlight how ambiguities over the explicit and implicit objectives of legalization create opportunities to eschew blame. We find that blame avoidance structures policy resources and widens existing implementation gaps. Overall, this paper contributes to a better understanding of the role of blame avoidance in shaping implementation gaps. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-620b7fbfa04f490da215059732956292 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2679-3873 2706-6274 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | OpenEdition |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Review of Public Policy |
| spelling | doaj-art-620b7fbfa04f490da2150597329562922025-08-20T03:23:34ZengOpenEditionInternational Review of Public Policy2679-38732706-62742025-03-01710.4000/13zewBlame avoidance and the implementation of ambiguity in Canadian cannabis legalizationMaude BenoitGabriel V. LévesqueCanadian cannabis legalization was destined to produce implementation gaps: it is a wicked policy issue, imbued with moral connotations, involving multiple levels of government, and formulated in an uncertain context. Those factors all pave the way for policy ambiguities. But why do these ambiguities appear? How do they shape the behavior of policy stakeholders? In this paper, we argue that, in order to manage the unique challenges of cannabis legalization, governments and central agencies rely on preemptive blame avoidance strategies. Ambiguities ensuing from the use of those strategies in turn enhance the responsibilities of implementers, while also limiting their capacity. We narrow down our analysis to the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, who have two contrasting regulatory models. Using data from semi-structured interviews and the grey literature, we highlight how ambiguities over the explicit and implicit objectives of legalization create opportunities to eschew blame. We find that blame avoidance structures policy resources and widens existing implementation gaps. Overall, this paper contributes to a better understanding of the role of blame avoidance in shaping implementation gaps.https://journals.openedition.org/irpp/5012implementationblame avoidancecannabis legalizationregulationsadministrative capacitymorality policy. |
| spellingShingle | Maude Benoit Gabriel V. Lévesque Blame avoidance and the implementation of ambiguity in Canadian cannabis legalization International Review of Public Policy implementation blame avoidance cannabis legalization regulations administrative capacity morality policy. |
| title | Blame avoidance and the implementation of ambiguity in Canadian cannabis legalization |
| title_full | Blame avoidance and the implementation of ambiguity in Canadian cannabis legalization |
| title_fullStr | Blame avoidance and the implementation of ambiguity in Canadian cannabis legalization |
| title_full_unstemmed | Blame avoidance and the implementation of ambiguity in Canadian cannabis legalization |
| title_short | Blame avoidance and the implementation of ambiguity in Canadian cannabis legalization |
| title_sort | blame avoidance and the implementation of ambiguity in canadian cannabis legalization |
| topic | implementation blame avoidance cannabis legalization regulations administrative capacity morality policy. |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/irpp/5012 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT maudebenoit blameavoidanceandtheimplementationofambiguityincanadiancannabislegalization AT gabrielvlevesque blameavoidanceandtheimplementationofambiguityincanadiancannabislegalization |