cannabisnews.com: Windsor Leads Way On Legal Pot 





Windsor Leads Way On Legal Pot 
Posted by CN Staff on May 21, 2003 at 23:35:55 PT
By Suzette Hackney, Free Press Writer
Source: Detroit Free Press 
Windsor -- A judge has ruled that possession of up to 30 grams of marijuana is legal in Detroit's wide-open neighbor to the south. But Windsor is not yet Amsterdam, and if you're thinking of crossing the border to toke on a joint along Ouellete Avenue, think again: Windsor police say they will continue to enforce long-standing drug laws despite the judge's ruling.
"Everything will be done the same way we've been doing it -- people will be arrested if they are caught with marijuana," said Sgt. Kevin Trudell of the Windsor Police drug investigation unit. The ruling last week in Windsor by Superior Court Justice Steven Rogin was the most recent development surrounding drug policy in Canada, which is softening its approach to narcotics, treating abuse more as an illness than as a law-enforcement issue. Such moves differ sharply from the zero-tolerance philosophy adopted by the United States, and U.S. officials have protested Prime Minister Jean Chretien's plan to introduce legislation to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana in Canada. Rogin ruled Friday that possessing a little more than an ounce of marijuana is not against the law in Ontario. Rogin said there is no Canadian criminal law or penalty that specifically relates to marijuana. He would not comment to the Free Press. Experts in Canada say Rogin's ruling most likely will be followed by lower court judges, who usually preside over marijuana possession cases. Police fear hundreds of drug cases will now be dismissed. Many had been delayed as judges awaited Rogin's decision. Brian McAllister, the Windsor lawyer who had challenged the law, was quoted as saying in the Windsor Star that Rogin's ruling "effectively erased the criminal prohibition on marijuana possession from the law books in Ontario." Rogin's decision is likely to be appealed. Trudell said Canadian officials now must take a stand. "The government is going to have to step up and make a decision and stop sitting on the fence." Note: Rest of Canada may also allow some use.Source: Detroit Free Press (MI)Author: Suzette Hackney, Free Press WriterPublished: May 22, 2003Copyright: 2003 Detroit Free PressContact: letters freepress.comWebsite: http://www.freep.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmJustice Steven Rogin's Legalization Rulinghttp://freedomtoexhale.com/legalized.htmMarijuana Legal in Ontario http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16326.shtmlNo Laws Ban Possession of Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16321.shtmlMarijuana Possession Law 'Erased' http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16320.shtml
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Comment #11 posted by malleus2 on May 23, 2003 at 06:17:06 PT
The beginning of the end
Canada simply doesn't have the false largesse of the US when it comes to their courts; if just 20 tokers in every city in Canada were to fight the fines in court, the entire system nationwide would jam its' gears and slag itself from overheating.Canadian police know this. Canadian prosecutors know this. Canadian judges know this. They know that tokers up there WILL fight; I've been watching this going on up there since 1996, and while the government lawyers have been largely replaced from being worn out from the battle, the tokers are still there and their fight has brought them near-victory. Canadians are a very pragmatic people; a climate that can at times be incredibly brutal tends to reinforce sensibilty over ideology. The vast majority of Canadians can easily differentiate between the lies of Uncle and their own observations. They'll drop this fine bit quickly enough.
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Comment #10 posted by 2Spooky on May 22, 2003 at 10:13:56 PT
Better than just suing them...
Bait them and jam the system with this stuff.Do be careful that they cant get ya under some other stretch of the law though. I am not familiar enough with Canadian law to make a call there. Here in the US it could be "loitering" or "public intoxication" or "endangering a minor".Still, even if the law is later fixed, if no valid law is applicable at the TIME OF THE ARREST, your suit, etc will be good.Go get em, and teach em that they cant refuse to obey the Court. You can bet that judges will get very angry if they have to deal with such cases after this clear ruling, and they will certainly take it out on the police.Particularly the lower Courts who MUST abide by this ruling.
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Comment #9 posted by TroutMask on May 22, 2003 at 07:04:29 PT
Thanks!
Ah, so there really is "something happening here in the states that I haven't heard about yet." It's called "geography" and "getting a clue". Thanks for that lesson. ;-)-TM
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Comment #8 posted by escapegoat on May 22, 2003 at 07:03:31 PT:
If they arrest you, SUE THE POLICE
"Everything will be done the same way we've been doing it -- people will be arrested if they are caught with marijuana," said Sgt. Kevin Trudell of the Windsor Police drug investigation unit."And the Windsor Police has just opened itself to many, many lawsuits. There is NO LAW. There is SOLID LEGAL PRECIDENT that there is no law when a Superior Court rules on an issue, until an appeal is given leave, hears, and RULED ON.
 If they arrest you, SUE THE POLICE. LET THEM KNOW IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS THAT THEY WILL BE PERSONALLY LIABLE, AND THE POLICE SERVICE WILL BE LIABLE.
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Comment #7 posted by Prime on May 22, 2003 at 06:57:52 PT
Trout... Windsor actually South...
Its a strange geographic occurance. The River Rouge connects Lake St Claire (I think) and Lake Erie to the South. Detroit sits on the North/West side of the river, while Windsor sits on the South/East side.Was a nice play on words though.
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Comment #6 posted by TroutMask on May 22, 2003 at 06:37:50 PT
Geography...
"A judge has ruled that possession of up to 30 grams of marijuana is legal in Detroit's wide-open neighbor to the south."hmmm. Should be "Detroit's wide-open neighbor to the north" shouldn't it? Or is something happening here in the states that I haven't heard about yet?-TM
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Comment #5 posted by The GCW on May 22, 2003 at 06:26:22 PT
This is war and We have not yet begun to fight.
 And yet We are making ground.I AM FULL OF JOY TO REALIZE CHRIST GOD OUR FATHER AND THE HOLY SPIRIT OF TRUTH IS ON OUR SIDE.CANNAPEOPLE CAN NOT LOOSE.Christ wants Us to Love OUr brother, but police can not comprehend, because they have taken an oath to uphold mans laws over the laws of Christ. Truth, THE HOLY SPIRIT OF TRUTH, is not available to the police. Police have separated themselves from the promised Holy Spirit of Truth by disobeying Christ! I have known this for a time. Now Police have come out of the closet and blatantly disobey right in our face.  This is good, it displays that the deluding influence is alive in them.  The deluding influence, is exposed for Our benefit, as it Biblically says. I understand the judge indicates that We should not kill police, and I am glad of heart to know that We do not disregard that and kill them anyway.When shit hits the fan, Will We have to clean police off the fan blades? Show Me a good cop, and I’ll show You a cop stopped supporting mans laws in favor of Christ’s.Today, police may be thought of as the Pharisees.So what does it say?John 14:15-17, If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. John 14:21, He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." John 14:23-24, ...If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. "He who does not love Me does not keep My words;...John 14:31, but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me.John 15:6, "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away...John 15:7, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.John 15:10, If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.John 15:12, "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.John 15:14, "You are My friends if you do what I command you.John 15:23, "He who hates Me hates My Father also.John 15:25, THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.'1 John 2:3-6, By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, " I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.1 John 2:9, The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now.1 John 2:11, But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.1 John 2:17, The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.1 John 2:24, As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. (when I think of what I heard from the beginning, I think about the beginning of the Bible, where it says on the 1st page, that all the green plants are good. That, is part of what I abide in. So police separate themselves from the very beginning.)1 John 2:28, Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.1 John 3:4, Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.1 John 3:6, No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.1 John 3:8-10, the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.1 John 3:11-12, ... we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother.1 John 3:14-15, ... He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.1 John 3:17-18, BUT WHOEVER HAS THE WORLD'S GOODS, AND SEES HIS BROTHER IN NEED AND CLOSES HIS HEART AGAINST HIM, HOW DOES THE LOVE OF GOD ABIDE IN HIM? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 1 John 3:22-24, ... whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. 1 John 4:1, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.2 John 1:9, Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12, subtitled, Man of Lawlessness, Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. FOR THIS REASON GOD WILL SEND UPON THEM A DELUDING INFLUENCE SO THAT THEY WILL BELIEVE WHAT IS FALSE, IN ORDER THAT THEY ALL MAY BE JUDGED WHO DID NOT BELIEVE THE TRUTH, BUT TOOK PLEASURE IN WICKEDNESS.The Green Collar Worker
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Comment #4 posted by til on May 22, 2003 at 05:06:59 PT
re: court vs cops
Sure there is, we call it a restrain order but of course the police do have a commitment to spend allocated funds from this years budget and will have to answer for their fiscal management when they re-apply for 2004. 
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Comment #3 posted by Kegan on May 22, 2003 at 04:47:05 PT
break The Law
Anyone pops me, I will sue the officer, I will sue the police department, I will sue anyone and everyone that I can.If they start the decrim ticket thing..... I am going for 30 tickets in 30 days. Trying for a record....
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Comment #2 posted by WolfgangWylde on May 22, 2003 at 04:33:44 PT
Simple really...
...Ontario defense lawyers are recommending that you sue for false arrest, and/or resist any attempts to have your hearing delayed.
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Comment #1 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on May 22, 2003 at 03:55:05 PT
Courts vs. Cops
So if the courts will throw out posession cases but the police will continue to arrest people... is there some sort of legal action an acquitted Cannabian could take against the Ontario Police? Like a cease and desist order, or a civil lawsuit? The judges sound like they're on our side...
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