cannabisnews.com: Ticket Pot Smokers To Keep Courts Clear





Ticket Pot Smokers To Keep Courts Clear
Posted by FoM on May 02, 2000 at 07:03:21 PT
By Mark Cooper, Legislature Bureau
Source: Calgary Sun
Ticketing for marijuana possession rather than tying up courts with charges deserves study, says Alberta's justice minister. "If it became a problem in terms of resource utilization, I'm always looking at ways of how we can streamline the process which maintains the emphasis on the offence but doesn't use court time unnecessarily and doesn't use police resources unnecessarily," said Dave Hancock, who added that he's never smoked marijuana. 
"There's a number of things you could look at in terms of reform. If you had a minor possession charge, perhaps it's something that could be ticketed rather than involving a court appearance. "That doesn't take away from the question of the seriousness of cracking down on drugs. But you could think about ways to reform the system so it didn't take an abundance of resources to deal with the small end of the story." Kirk MacDonald, an Edmonton criminal lawyer, favours ticketing for minor marijuana possession because of the strain charges puts on the system. For every seizure, police must send a sample to a federal lab in either Vancouver or Eastern Canada, a technician must test it and certify it is a controlled substance. That certificate must come back and be served on the accused. "Let's not saddle people with a criminal record for small amounts of marijuana," said MacDonald. But Hancock cautioned that he doesn't want to give the impression he condones even minor drug use. In fact, he considers it a major part of a huge drug trafficking problem. "It's part of large drug trade. I'm not an expert, but there's some feeling the strains of marijuana now are stronger than they used to be and in fact they're used as a method of introducing people to illicit drugs and perhaps moving them up." MacDonald said it's an innocuous drug. "Ask any criminal lawyer if at any time if you've ever had any one do B&Es to support a marijuana habit. No," said MacDonald. "Ask if you've ever had anyone who has a client who gets violent when he smokes marijuana. No." Liberal justice critic Sue Olsen, an ex-police officer, would be in favour of ticketing. "I think if it's a simple possession charge then the reality can be struck home (through ticketing), but you're not then preventing people who make a foolish error of judgment in their youth (as they grow older and wiser) from working internationally or holidaying in other countries," said Olsen, who admits experimenting with marijuana in her youth. Published: May 2, 2000Copyright © 2000, Canoe Limited Partnership. Related Articles:Pot Too Mild To Be Criminal, Lawyer Argues http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3160.shtmlhttp://alltheweb.com/cgi-bin/search?type=all&query=cannabisnews+pot
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: