Conservatives move to get rid of automatic pot charges
Posted March 5, 2014 10:34 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA (NEWS1130) – The tough-on-crime Conservative government may be changing its stripes.
There is push to get rid of automatically charging people caught with small amounts of marijuana.
The proposal is to give police officers the option of handing out tickets to people caught with under 30 grams of pot.
Justice Minister Peter MacKay confirms he has told his department to work towards draft legislation.
MacKay talked about the idea with the head of the Canadian Associate of Chiefs of Police. “He seems to be favourable inclined, as do a lot of police that I’ve spoken to lately, so this is under serious consideration.”
Critics say the current laws force police to spend too much time in court or on paperwork, so when someone is caught with a joint, the officer either lets them go with a warning or is taken off the streets to follow up on the charges.
MacKay won’t say when we’ll see the legislation.
VPD won’t be raiding medical marijuana dispensaries
One Vancouver city councillor is backing the police department’s decision not to raid medical marijuana dispensaries when a new federal law kicks in.
Kerry Jang says there’s no reason to go after the operations if they’re being run in a professional manner but he clarifies that anyone caught giving pot to someone without a prescription will be busted.
“For us, at the City of Vancouver, it’s all about making sure that patients have access to the medicine. Let’s be clear, marijuana is a prescribed medication by physicians and the new federal laws will block people from getting their medication.”
Jang adds the city has always been at the forefront of drug policies pointing to the supervised injection site as proof.
“It’s not our intention to take any extraordinary efforts to close professionally run pot dispensaries like those that are selling to people with a prescription. It’s just wrong. These people are suffering from a great deal of pain and this is one of the few medications that is actually working for them.”
The VPD says it doesn’t have the resources to go after dispensaries when the Health Canada regulations come into effect on April 1st.
Federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay says the draft legislation that would loosen the marijuana laws is under “serious consideration.” The Conservatives are looking at allowing police officers to ticket anyone caught with small amounts of pot, instead of recommending criminal charges.
Under current laws, anyone convicted of possessing a small amount of pot can be jailed for up to five years, while first-time offenders could be fine up to $1,000 or face six months behind bars.
