Pubdate: Wed, 23 Dec 2009
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2009 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/send_a_letter
Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/grant.htm (Krieger, Grant)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

VICTIMLESS CRIME

Canada's criminalization of marijuana, ramped up under the Tory 
government of Stephen Harper, continues to be undermined in the very 
places that backstop the Criminal Code -- the courts. This week, a 
judge found a man who openly sold pot to people in need of pain 
relief was guilty of a victimless crime.

With no one hurting, no one at risk for Grant Krieger's crime, 
Queen's Bench Justice Shawn Greenberg slapped him instead with probation.

In fact, the judge reflected, it seemed that Mr. Krieger was doing 
his clients a favour. All who came to the pot advocate, himself 
suffering with multiple sclerosis, found a ready source of quality 
weed, and would get it free if unable to afford the natural source of 
pain relief.

Medical marijuana is available with a doctor's prescription, but 
doctors, bereft of scientific evidence on medical marijuana, have 
been reluctant to comply.

The judge's comments would be remarkable enough had the charge been 
simple possession. But Mr. Krieger was charged with the much more 
serious offence of trafficking.

Justice Greenberg's sentencing reflected the attitudes of many 
Canadians on the marijuana file, especially given the mess Ottawa has 
made of getting it to the sick. Indeed, amid mounting evidence of 
pot's lack of harm for recreational users, many Canadians wonder why 
it isn't legalized and regulated, as are alcohol and tobacco. Eight 
years ago, the Canadian Medical Association called pot an innocuous 
drug and warned that possession convictions were a greater harm than 
the health effects of moderate use.

The Harper government refuses to pick up the decriminalization agenda 
of the former Liberal administration and, in fact, has taken a harder 
line on pot. The courts must respect Parliament's right to write the 
laws, but Justice Greenberg's decision shows that discretion in 
sentencing can go a long way to protest their futility.
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