THEIR FUTURE SEEMS HAZIER AFTER HIGH-PROFILE CONVICTIONS, BUT DON'T BET ON THE EMERYS FADING AWAY For Canada's first couple of pot, Jodie and Marc Emery, it hasn't been happy trails of late. Their future in the marijuana legalization movement would seem hazier now after pleading guilty last month to trafficking and possession of the proceeds of crime that came with $195,000 in fines for each of them. The charges stem from high profile raids led by Toronto police last March at a number of Cannabis Culture dispensaries in Ontario and Vancouver, under the code name Project Gator. Three other business associates charged in the raids were fined between $3,000 and $10,000 each. Charges against 17 employees were dropped. [continues 1023 words]
Toronto's former chief is not the only ex-cop or politician looking to profit from legal marijuana, but he may be the biggest hypocrite among them Julian Fantino has turned over a new leaf on marijuana. The former Toronto police chief, OPP commish and Harper-era cabinet minister will serve as executive chair of something called Aleafia Inc., which describes itself on its website as a "total health network." The company will essentially act as a middleman that connects prospective medicinal-marijuana users with licensed growers, according to the Globe and Mail, which broke the story over the weekend - and then promptly put it behind a paywall knowing full well the clicking frenzy Fantino's association with legal weed would touch off. [continues 669 words]
Criminal Lawyers' Association smokes out feds on pot possession charges tying up the courts Despite the government's commitment to legal marijuana, possession charges continue to be prosecuted in Canada's courts. Criminal Lawyers' Association (CLA) president Anthony Moustacalis wrote Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould back in February asking for a directive to stay all charges currently in the system. Why tie up the courts, his letter asks, with costly charges for a substance that will eventually be legal? The feds have announced that they plan to bring in their legal pot regime next spring. But so far Moustacalis has received no response from the feds. [continues 163 words]
By Enzo DiMatteo As activists here await a court decision on a recent constitutional challenge to Canada's cannabis laws, south of the border the Oregon state legislature, the first to decriminalize pot, in 1973, has moved to make small quantities of the leaf illegal again. The decision, announced earlier this month, now makes possession of less than an ounce of pot a criminal offence punishable by a maximum $1,000 fine, up to 30 days in jail and the loss of driving privileges for six months. A far cry from the days when getting busted for a bag of weed bought you a small fine. [continues 176 words]
