Pubdate: Sat, 28 May 2016
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.torontosun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://torontosun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author: Maryam Shah
Page: 4

LEGAL VIEW IS HAZY

Will charges stick?

With legal weed on the horizon, what happens to those facing criminal
charges over pot during a period of time some call a grey area?

We asked prominent Toronto criminal lawyer Edward Prutschi about this
week's pot dispensary raids:

Will the charges arising from the pot shop raids stick?

PRUTSCHI: "Look, it can stick. As it stands today, marijuana is
illegal.

The only greyness comes from the fact that our federal government has
indicated that within a year, the law is going to change. What it's
going to change to, we don't know.

So as of today, and as of the date of these raids, it's illegal ...
Whether Crown attorneys and police officers and politicians actually
want them to stick is a different story."

These dispensaries claim they're only serving legitimate medical
marijuana patients. Do they have a leg to stand on?

PRUTSCHI: "When it comes to people who are selling to persons without
legitimate medical marijuana licenses, that's going to be a problem.
For the dispensary that is careful and purchases only from another
lawful authorized source and only to lawfully authorized people, they
at least have the glimmer of an argument to make."

Are there any parallels from the past? Advocates say the front-line
battles around medical marijuana legalization were fought in court
years ago.

PRUTSCHI: "They're absolutely right about that. The history of
marijuana legalization in Canada is a long and storied one, and it has
definitely been advanced significantly by people who were charged, who
were prosecuted, and who then brought a constitutional challenge."

What would you do if one of those charged yesterday was your
client?

PRUSTCHI: "The answer to that question depends on when they came to
me. If a client had come to me two days before these raids and said 'I
want to open a medical marijuana dispensary, am I okay to do it?' the
only legitimate legal answer I could give him is 'No, you're running a
risk, this is clearly a problem.' If they were asking me how to do it
in the least illegal fashion - although it would still be illegal - I
would tell them: 'If you're going to do it, you better make sure that
the people who are coming into your store all have absolutely sterling
legitimate medical marijuana licenses.' If they come to me now, the
first piece of advice I'd be giving them: 'You know what, you need to
slow everything down.'"
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