cannabisnews.com: Marijuana: ‘Everything’s in Limbo’





Marijuana: ‘Everything’s in Limbo’
Posted by CN Staff on June 26, 2003 at 08:03:22 PT
By Greg McArthur 
Source: Kingston Whig-Standard 
One of Canada’s biggest marijuana activists has some advice for potheads in his home town of Kingston. “If police take your cannabis away, talk to a lawyer,” said Mike Foster, the owner of one of the biggest headshops in Ottawa and a founding member of the Marijuana Party of Canada. “If it’s not illegal, they can’t take it.” Since May 16, when an Ontario Superior Court judge upheld a lower court decision to quash a charge against a youth for simple possession of marijuana, it’s become increasingly unclear how much authority police can exercise over someone caught with less than 30 grams of pot. 
Like police across the province, Kingston Police have changed the way they deal with simple possession. Anyone caught with under 30 grams will be investigated and the pot confiscated, but officers won’t lay charges until someone – whether it’s the federal government or the Supreme Court – makes a decision about the legality of simple possession, said Insp. Brian Cookman. “The bottom line is, we’re going to investigate and we’re going to seize the marijuana,” Cookman said. Foster, an outspoken advocate for pot smokers, runs Crosstown Traffic, a popular shop in the nation’s capital that sells everything from rolling papers to pipes to comic books. The 48-year-old also helped publish the first children’s book on medicinal marijuana, called Mommy’s Funny Medicine. He went to high school in Napanee and spent his early 20s in Kingston. His homes on Earl Street and Victoria Street were subject to frequent RCMP raids in the early 1970s. He said the court decision means that pot smokers such as himself can consider their pastime legal – no matter what police say. “It’s technically legal,” he said. The Criminal Code of Canada, which outlaws simple possession, gives officers the authority to investigate people with under 30 grams of pot, Cookman argued. But he acknowledged that the May 16 decision has blurred the law. “It’s a very difficult spot they’ve left us in,” he said. Kingston Police aren’t the only ones who’ve had to change the way they handle simple possession. Five people who were accused of simple possession of marijuana had charges withdrawn by a federal Crown attorney in Kingston on Tuesday – adding to a growing list of local pot smokers who are dodging convictions. “They were surprised … it’s been a lucky break for them, that’s for sure,” said federal prosecutor David Crowe, who has been instructed to withdraw or stay simple possession charges while Ontario’s cannabis laws remain up in the air. “Everything’s in limbo,” he said. With the federal government’s proposal to decriminalize possession of under 15 grams still before the House of Commons and no firm cannabis law in place, prosecutors aren’t attempting to try someone for simple possession. Some Crown attorneys, such as those in Lanark County, have been staying charges, which allows them to reinstate the charges within a year. Crowe said he’s opting to withdraw the charges completely. The longer the charges are delayed, the more likely they’ll be defeated later on, he said. Defence lawyers are also preparing for clients who might take police to court if their pot is seized. If an officer seizes a few joints from someone at a party and marijuana is later decriminalized by Ottawa, it may open Kingston Police to a lawsuit. “No doubt someone will try it,” said Clyde Smith, a Kingston defence lawyer who has had simple possession charges withdrawn against a few of his clients. “That could be interesting.” Cookman said all marijuana seized by Kingston Police is packaged and sent to Health Canada for testing to determine if it is cannabis. When it is returned to police, it is stored, sealed and numbered. If Ottawa eventually decides that simple possession isn’t a crime – a decision that won’t likely come about until at least the fall – pot smokers could theoretically go to police headquarters and ask to have their weed returned. “If you’re going to want your dope returned after it’s been sitting in a vault, I guess it’s possible,” Cookman said. “It is plant material so it will degrade to some degree.” But until the federal government makes a decision on the proposed decriminalization legislation, the law will continue to be fuzzy. Even though everyone has different opinions on the issue of possession – from police to activists to lawyers – they all want the same thing. Ottawa needs to take a stand, they say. “We are here to enforce what society deems us to enforce. If society dictates that possession of cannabis is no longer important to them, then we will go with the flow,” Cookman said. “But is it a confusing time? You bet.” Source: Kingston Whig-Standard (CN ON)Author: Greg McArthur Published: Thursday, June 26, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Kingston Whig-StandardContact: whiged thewhig.comWebsite: http://www.kingstonwhigstandard.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Crosstown Traffichttp://www.crosstowntraffic.ca/Marijuana Party of Canadahttp://www.marijuanaparty.org/Mommy’s Funny Medicinehttp://www.salvagingelectrons.com/mfm/Marijuana Legal in Ontario http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16326.shtmlNo Laws Ban Possession of Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16321.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by lombar on June 26, 2003 at 13:20:39 PT
The only thing in limbo..
...is cannabis prohibition. “It is plant material so it will degrade to some degree.” First its 30 times stronger than the cannabis of the 60's and now its going to 'degrade' to some degree...what a pile.It is confusing from a point of view like a child being told that what they are doing is wrong. "Why shouldn't I pull the legs off flies?" It is only confusing to people who believe they have the right to create bad consequences for others out of thin air or sweet-smelling smoke in this case, based upon their own so-called morality or political bias. 67% of readers who responded to yesterday's Province poll agreed with Justice Southin who deemed cannabis users no more harmful to society than martini drinkers. I'd say they are far LESS harmful, that is not confusing at all...
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on June 26, 2003 at 11:53:12 PT:
Societal inertia of the usual form
*“But is it a confusing time? You bet.”* Look, copper, it's not confusing at all:A.) In Ontario, there are no laws against cannabis, PERIOD.B.) As a result, if you take someone's cannabis, based upon no legal justification, it is THEFT of private property.C.) Which act opens you to legal attack.Whereas:1.) If you leave us 'potheads' alone...2.) WE'LL be more than happy to leave YOU alone. the Golden Rule applied effectively.I can't draw this picture any simpler without it looking like a child's stick figure, it's so simple. Proving once again that there must be secret maximum intelligence limits in place to be hired onto a police force.
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