Where there's no smoke, there's no fire. About 100 people roll up to Victoria Park for peaceful, arrest-free '420' gathering Police were out in force Sunday, but any trouble they expected went up in smoke when the only person to light up a joint had a licence to chill. Twenty-one-year-old Travis Wright was quickly joined by two of London's finest as the first few plumes of smoke escaped his lips, but he was just as quick on the draw with a medicinal marijuana licence. [continues 166 words]
Victoria Park: Councillor Defends Heavy Police Presence At Gathering On Parliament Hill in Ottawa Sunday, news reports described a crowd of about 2,000 people throwing Frisbees, listening to music and smoking pot. In Vancouver, thousands gathered at the Vancouver Art Gallery for their public celebration. At London's Victoria Park, however, some in the crowd of about 100 people yelled at police and were repeatedly warned they would be arrested if they lit up a joint. One officer in the heavy presence of 16 to 20 cops filmed the goings-on. [continues 305 words]
Colorado-Style Cash. Tax From Legal Pot Would Mean $5m Per Month for Province, Says London Economist A London economist says that Colorado has proven what many have been saying all along: Legalize marijuana, regulate it and the tax dollars will come flowing in. It's been estimated that in the first month of legalized weed sales, the state made a cool $2.1 million in taxes. That's outside of the $1.4 million it made taxing medicinal marijuana. Ivey School associate professor Mike Moffatt said the tax works out to about 40 cents for each of Colorado's 5.2 million people. [continues 292 words]
Court. London Cops Deliberately Disregarded Charter Rights: Judge There's been a setback for the prosecution in a marijuana grow-operation case tied to a London real-estate agent. A federal judge has disallowed much of the evidence gathered by London police in the investigation that led to the arrest of Thu Tran and six others in June 2012. Tran is accused of knowingly selling homes that would be turned into grow-ops. Superior Court Justice A.J. Goodman has ruled two sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms were breached during "illegal" searches of homes on London's Oakville Avenue and Highview Crescent in 2010. [continues 211 words]
Human rights: Commissioner's demand for information ruffles feathers A request from the province's human rights watchdog didn't go over well Tuesday at city hall. "We're just trying to do our job," said Coun. Joe Swan as the difficult issue of regulating methadone clinics reared its head at the corporate services committee. That regulation, said a letter from the Ontario Human Rights Commission, might be leading the city to discriminate against drug addicts. The commission has asked for a large amount of documentation from the city as it seeks to decide whether people's rights are being affected by city rules governing methadone clinics and pharmacies. [continues 156 words]
