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Pot Laws Go Up In Smoke?
7-15-'07 | BlogTo.com | Chris Orbz

Following quickly on the heels of media reports that marijuana possession was back as a "real" crime in Canadian cities, a new ruling is set to strike down the laws entirely. Again. Maybe.

Statistics just released showed an apparent surge of 20% - 50% in the number of pot possession busts in Toronto, along with Vancouver, Halifax and Ottawa.

This was a marked change from 2003, when an Ontario court ruled that no personal-possession marijuana law existed, it having been deemed unconstitutional in 2000 (with a one year timeframe for the government to make changes to the laws, which did not happen).

This had essentially wiped the laws from the books... until the federal government decided to "patch things up" with what was pretty much a softly-recriminalizing decriminilization bill, introduced under Paul Martin's Liberals and never fully passed through to law.

Police Chief Bill Blair was quick to make an announcement in response to the statistics' release, however, stating that the surge in marijuana-related arrests in Toronto was only due to an increased focus on organized crime in the city, which inevitably involved marijuana possession and trafficking amongst many charges.

According to Blair, the Toronto police is keeping in line with its several-year run of labelling marijuana possession arrests as wasted time and resources, and has not changed this in the switch from federal Liberals to Conservatives, nor from Fantino to himself.

How this really translates into street-level reality is open for examination, though, since with no firm legal guidance the police force has been crafting vague policy and leaving things largely to the discretion of officers, encouraging them to focus on more serious concerns.

While I do find I notice people smoking weed fairly casually in a lot of settings, I also had a story recounted to me of someone being arrested, charged and convicted for rolling a joint in a coffee shop bathroom stall which an undercover decided to peek into. Beyond that being out of line with Blair's opinion of police policy, it sounds downright perverted to me, but that's a separate issue.

The issue at hand is that which applies to all Canadians - what's actually set down in the legal system. A new ruling, just issued this Friday by a Toronto judge, has again deemed Canada's marijuana possession laws unconstitutional. (You might recognize defense lawyer Brian McAllister as the same who handled the case back in 2003.)

The argument put forth was that, since the government had made it a policy that medical marijuana ought to be accessible, but never properly instituted or re-wrote laws to ensure that it was, the entire possession law ought to be deemed unconstitutional. The judge agreed, however he gave the prosecution two weeks before making the ruling official.

The government is expected to appeal, and so we're apparently stuck in the same confusing haze we have been for the past few years. For what it's worth, we really may as well have been stoned the whole time - just as much would've gotten accomplished.

 

William Rogers

The surge of up to 50% more arrests is only thanks to a Conservative gov't, not that there are any more people smoking then there was 2 years ago. Thank god they are rounding up all those hardcore marijuana criminals. Imagine if they let them just walk the street who knows the kind of anarchy would take place, o ya the same amount that was taking place during all those years with the liberal's in power. What a bunch of fool's we are for putting that prick in control of our rights and freedoms. Maybe we'll do one better next time and give him a majority, are equivalent to re-electing Bush.

William Rogers

so thats why in my 14 years smoking cannabis and over a dozen times being stopped it wasn't until the harper gov't came into power that i finally was charged with a crime, and funny how the court was filled of young kids all charged with a minor possession one guy was charged with possession of 2 grams, un heard of 2 years ago, also the story that got this all rolling is of a 29 year old man being charged for possessing a 3.5 gram bag of weed, OMG somebidy call the cop's. I had 14 grams and I brought a letter from my doctor to court stating my condition, think the crown gave a crap? Hell no!! Still had to plead guilty to avoid a possible Criminal record I wish now I would of bucked up o about 3000$ to fight it, if this guy with the eighth doesn't even have a medical condtion and the judge ruled on his side.I hate this country right now with that demon harper in power.