cannabisnews.com: Courts Still Prosecuting Marijuana Possession 





Courts Still Prosecuting Marijuana Possession 
Posted by CN Staff on August 02, 2003 at 11:27:22 PT
By Ron Ryder, The Guardian 
Source: The Guardian
Crown attorneys will still pursue marijuana possession cases, despite recent legal decisions, a senior member of the federal prosecution service said Tuesday.Paula Taylor, the Halifax-based supervisor of legal agents for the Department of Justice, works with the private-sector lawyers who prosecute federal cases such as those involving the Controlled Drug and Substances Act.
Marijuana is a banned substance under the act but the legal waters around the drug have become murky. The federal government has been talking for months about the possibility of decriminalizing possession of small amounts of cannabis and of allowing consumption of marijuana for medical reasons. Ontario courts have used the lack of clarity and action on marijuana policy as rationale for throwing out some cases of simple possession. In March, citing those precedents, Provincial Court Judge Ralph Thompson stayed a case in Summerside in which a young male was charged with possession of under 30 grams of cannabis.This month, Charlottetown police said they will hold off laying new possession charges until the legal situation is cleared up. Police said they will still seize drugs and gather evidence, but won’t lay charges until an appeal of Thompson’s decision has been heard.Charlottetown’s deputy police chief Richard Collins said they will still have time to lay possession charges in coming months.In an interview, Taylor said her office still takes simple possession cases seriously but that both prosecutors and police always have the right to reserve their efforts for cases that they consider to be in the public interest.“The law is the law, the prosecution service has a mandate to uphold the law as it exists,” she said. “To date there has been no change to the law on cannabis possession.”But Taylor said the prosecution service and police alike have a responsibility to use their resources in ways that will serve the public interest.“I don’t think there’s a citizen out there who doesn’t have some experience of the police using their discretion not to lay charges; maybe it’s when someone is jaywalking and the officer tells them they should be crossing at the corner,” she said.“We have to ask ourselves the same question, whether a prosecution is in the public interest. There are a lot of cases that are resolved through other measures.”Taylor said that discretion also means police and the Crown are free to aggressively pursue simple possession charges in key areas, such as drug-impaired driving or possession of drugs in a school area.“Certain circumstances of possession are going to be in situations where the public interest is such that it is very important for these cases to proceed,” she said.Taylor said the situation on Prince Edward Island should be clearer once the Supreme Court Appeal Division rules on an appeal of Thompson’s decision. That appeal is scheduled to be heard Sept. 3.She said the legal precedents on possession charges have not all fallen in the same direction as Thompson’s ruling.“In Saskatchewan and British Columbia the courts have take positions that are quite contrary to that,” Taylor said.“We have an ongoing appeal in Nova Scotia where the provincial judge relied quite heavily on the Prince Edward Island ruling.” Source: Guardian, The (CN PI)Author: Ron Ryder, The Guardian Published: Saturday, August 2, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Guardian, Charlottetown Guardian Group Inc.Contact: letters chg.southam.caWebsite: http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/Related Articles:Marijuana Activist Fails To Get Rise Out of Copshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16943.shtmlThe Halifax Police Station Goes To Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16906.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by afterburner on August 04, 2003 at 10:34:06 PT:
Even in Ontario.
CN ON: Man Wants Cops To Fix Damage From Search 02 Aug 2003 
The Recorder & Times 
http://www.mapinc.org/newscc/v03/n1170/a07.html?397Did the search warrant mention an unregistered gun? Why was the cannabis confiscated if no evidence of dealing was found? What did the warrant actually say the police were entitled to look for? This civil suit should have a good chance of succeeding.ego transcendence follows ego destruction, we want our rights respected.
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Comment #1 posted by afterburner on August 02, 2003 at 15:07:29 PT:
Pot Law? What Pot Law?
CN ON: PUB LTE: What Pot Law? 01 Aug 2003 
Midland Mirror 
 http://www.mapinc.org/newscc/v03/n1162/a10.html?397Tim Meehan is helping to organize the Ontario Marijuana Party.ego transcendence follows ego destruction, we will fight in the courts, in the street, in the voter's booth, until cannabis prohibition is nullified with "no offense known to the law" from sea to shining sea.
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