cannabisnews.com: Arresting Pot Smokers 'Not Worth The Effort' 





Arresting Pot Smokers 'Not Worth The Effort' 
Posted by CN Staff on June 06, 2003 at 07:27:23 PT
CBC News Report
Source: CBC
Ottawa - Police in Ontario are being advised not to lay charges for simple possession of marijuana under 30 grams. Police chiefs say there's no point. They say a recent Superior Court ruling, which struck down federal possession laws, means arresting people would be futile.Chief Tom Kaye, of Owen Sound, is president of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police. He says chiefs have repeatedly sought guidance from the federal justice ministry over how they should proceed with marijuana cases, but they have received no answer.
So he says the association is telling its members that arresting pot smokers is not worth the effort. "Our concern is that, in the meantime, our officers out in the field are not putting themselves in harm's way over something that it doesn't appear that anyone in the federal government seems to care that deeply about," Chief Kaye says.The decision has nothing to do with the proposed decriminalization of marijuana, but with a Superior Court decision in Windsor on May 16. A judge was deciding on a case of simple possession. The defence argued that the law was invalid because the federal government had missed a deadline imposed by another Ontario court. That deadline gave the government one year to draft new marijuana laws that were fairer than the old one. The Windsor judge threw out the prosecution case — and the law.Chief Kaye says courts have been turning up their noses at marijuana cases ever since."We've seen in the province a number of justices of the peace who are refusing to issue process to compel people to come to court, and in other cases we're seeing judges throwing the charges out," Chief Kaye says.But, he says, police won't ignore marijuana. They'll still confiscate it, and do the paperwork, even though they won't arrest the owner. He says police are still hoping an appeals court will reverse the Windsor decision, allowing them to dredge up all the old paperwork and lay new possession charges in the future.Source: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Published: June 06, 2003Copyright: 2003 CBCContact: letters cbc.ca Website: http://www.cbc.ca/Related Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmJustice Steven Rogin -- Judgmenthttp://freedomtoexhale.com/legalized.htmFeds Seek To Plug Pot Holehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16553.shtml'Parade' of Pot Cases Kicked Outhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16516.shtmlNo Laws Ban Possession of Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16321.shtml 
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