Pubdate: Wed, 12 Oct 2016
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Times Colonist
Contact:  http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Jeremy Maddock
Page: A11
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v16/n633/a04.html

COURTS SEND WRONG MESSAGE ON MARIJUANA

Re: "Man convicted for dispensary pot buy," Oct. 4.

With respect, I disagree with Chantelle Sutton's comment that her
client "was guilty" of offences under the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act. In the recent decision of R. vs. Smith (involving a
Victoria dispensary), a producer of unlicensed marijuana was acquitted
because his products were for medical use. The Supreme Court of Canada
made it clear that standing between patients and their medicine
violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

As Sutton correctly says, a person charged with possession of
marijuana "will have to retain a lawyer, run a trial and face other
financial repercussions." Most disabled individuals who use marijuana
for medicinal purposes are not in a position to incur these expenses,
not to mention the additional cost of a charter challenge to the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

The message sent by the courts is that dispensaries (i.e.
"traffickers" in marijuana) operate with impunity, whereas terminally
ill marijuana users continue to risk criminal records for accessing
medicine.

Such is the state of access to justice in B.C.

Jeremy Maddock

Victoria
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MAP posted-by: Matt