Criminalizing Nightlife Won’t Solve the Drug Problem: Ontario Should Learn from Global Models
- Music Cities Events
- Jun 10
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 11
When a law aims to criminalize cultural spaces,
it’s more than bad policy—it’s a warning sign
Bill 10, just passed in Ontario, risks doing just that by targeting nightlife in a way that overlooks its cultural and economic value.
But while many in the music and nightlife community feel the danger, it can be hard to articulate exactly why legislation like this is so harmful—or how to argue against it effectively.
Enter music policy expert Michaël Spanu, who steps in to give voice to what so many of us are struggling to say.
In this article, he breaks down how Bill 10 directly contradicts the priorities expressed by Toronto residents during recent public consultations—and outlines global best practices for managing nightlife in a smarter, more balanced way.
It’s a blueprint for defending nightlife. Are you working at the intersection of music and city-making?
Add your voice to the global community of changemakers at the Music Cities Convention in Fayetteville, AR – September 16–18, 2025.
Criminalizing Nightlife Won’t Solve the Drug Problem: Ontario Should Learn from Global Models
Ontario just passed Bill 10, which holds landlords criminally liable for drug activity on their property, even if they have no knowledge of it. This is a misguided attempt at public safety that risks doing serious harm to Ontario’s nightlife and cultural economy. Many music venues, bars, and clubs already operate in a precarious landscape marked by overregulation, stigma, and financial strain.
Bill 10 will incentivize landlords to avoid renting to nightlife businesses altogether. Even the perception of risk (from amplified music to late-night foot traffic) could be enough to trigger legal hesitation, especially in a climate where insurance costs and noise complaints are already major deterrents. In effect, Bill 10 could make independent music clubs and late-night venues uninsurable and commercially untouchable.
Its capital’s music scene, once one of North America’s most vibrant, has already suffered from venue closures, downtown displacement, and a lack of supportive zoning. Just as Toronto has started to implement long-overdue reforms through its Night Economy Review, the province’s Bill 10 introduces a contradictory and punitive approach that risks undoing that progress. This disconnect between provincial and municipal policy is not only inefficient, it’s dangerous for the cultural ecosystem. And it stands in sharp contrast to how other global cities are tackling the challenges of urban nightlife and drug-related risks.
As part of the Night Economy Review, Toronto consulted with residents and industry stakeholders from 2018 to 2023. The resulting reforms, implemented in January 2025, modernize zoning and licensing for nightlife venues, expand permissible entertainment space, and aim to encourage more cultural and social activity outside the downtown core. Notably, residents outside central Toronto expressed a desire for more nightlife, not less.
Their primary concern was not drug use, but noise, an issue cities can manage through regulation, soundproofing, and mediation. Venue owners, meanwhile, voiced frustration at being blamed for the behavior of patrons, especially when issues arise off-site and after-hours.
Bill 10 doubles down on this flawed logic by shifting that burden onto landlords. It sends a chilling message: if you lease to nightlife, you’re legally exposed.
Smarter Nightlife Policy Is Possible: Lessons from Around the World
Other cities have faced similar challenges and chosen smarter, more balanced approaches that preserve nightlife while addressing legitimate safety concerns.
In Paris, the city’s strategy is built around prevention, coordination, and public health—not criminal enforcement. The Conseil de la Nuit, established in 2014, serves as a cross-sector body that brings together venue owners, residents, NGOs, public health experts, municipal police, and cultural institutions. The goal is to address conflicts—especially those related to noise, safety, and drug use—before they escalate. Key programs like Fêtez Clairs train venue staff on drug and alcohol risk reduction. Fêtez Clairs works in close partnership with the Paris police drug unit to provide risk-management training to nightclub staff and event organizers. These trainings help nightlife workers identify and respond to problematic behaviors in real time, turning them into allies in public health rather than potential legal liabilities. Around twenty Parisian nightclubs have voluntarily signed the Fêtez Clairs charter, committing to create health-conscious environments, prevent risky behaviors, and actively reduce illicit activity on-site. In other words, rather than threatening landlords or venue operators with criminal charges, Paris supports them with tools, training, and shared responsibility.
The result is a nightlife ecosystem that embraces harm reduction and health promotion as core components of cultural life. Meanwhile, local boroughs can initiate consultations, issue charters of good conduct, and work with venues to adopt tailored solutions. This multi-tiered model emphasizes a graduated response, from dialogue and mediation to regulatory and, when necessary, legal enforcement. Crucially, it preserves nightlife as a legitimate and valuable part of city life.
In a similar vein, London’s model also promotes licensing flexibility, harm-reduction training, and mediation between venues and residents. The office of the Night Czar helps coordinate city-wide nightlife strategy, ensuring venues are included in safety planning and economic development.
Even Sydney, where restrictive “lockout laws” once devastated the city’s night-time economy, has reversed course. After public outcry and loss of cultural and economic vitality, the New South Wales government scrapped the laws and embraced a new strategy focused on vibrancy, safety, and responsible operation without overreliance on criminal law.
Finally, in Lisbon, Portugal, the approach to drug enforcement is completely different, as the country has decriminalized personal drug use since 2001. Instead of police raids and landlord liability, harm is addressed through medical care, outreach, and a coordinated social response, even in nightlife contexts. At the same time, enforcement against drug trafficking must remain firm to prevent the growth of criminal networks, but this cannot come at the cost of undermining cultural spaces and nightlife that play a vital role in society.
Navigating this balance is challenging, yet essential, as we reconsider how society addresses drug use while protecting both public safety and vibrant urban life.
1 Fêtez Clairs is a harm-reduction initiative coordinated by the City of Paris and the Préfecture de Police. It brings together 13 organizations to address risks associated with nightlife, including alcohol and drug use, sexual health, road safety, and hearing damage.
Better Questions Ontario Should Be Asking
Ontario doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel, it needs to ask better questions and listen more closely to those who understand nightlife from the inside.
How can cultural environments actually reduce harm and increase safety at night?
How can landlords, tenants, municipalities, and public health authorities collaborate more effectively?
Can harm-reduction initiatives—like those in Paris, Amsterdam, or Lisbon—be piloted in Ontario’s nightlife districts?
Why criminalize when coordinated enforcement and civil regulation could achieve better results?
And finally: who’s at the table in crafting provincial legislation—venue operators, cultural stakeholders, and public health experts, or just police and politicians?
Culture Shouldn’t Be the Casualty
Bill 10 won’t stop drug use. It will stop live music. It will freeze investments in nightlife, stigmatize cultural spaces, and dismantle years of work by cities like Toronto to build a more inclusive and vibrant night-time economy. If passed, it will contradict local goals, ignore global best practices, and punish the very actors most willing to work toward safer, more regulated nightlife. Ontario doesn’t need another war on drugs, it needs a plan for culture, safety, and shared responsibility after dark.
Are you working at the intersection of music and city-making?
Add your voice to the global community of changemakers at the Music Cities Convention in Fayetteville, AR – September 16–18, 2025.
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