Colin Perkel writes the upcoming legalization of marijuana is unlikely to kill Canada's black market - right away, at least TORONTO - From texting a local dealer to dropping into a neighbourhood dispensary or ordering online, Canada's black market for recreational marijuana has seen significant changes in recent years and, no doubt, will see more as the country hurtles toward a new world of legalization next summer. What does seem clear, however, is that the illegal market is unlikely to disappear in a puff of smoke come legalization day. [continues 783 words]
Lawyer argues charges laid against Marek Stupak, who operated the Social Collective in Toronto, should be thrown out The law under which the owner of two medical marijuana dispensaries was charged last year was unconstitutional because a valid program making medicinal pot readily available did not exist at the time, an Ontario court heard on Thursday. As a result, charges of possession for the purposes of trafficking and having proceeds of crime laid against Marek (Mark) Stupak should be thrown out, his lawyer Alan Young said. [continues 562 words]
TORONTO - The law under which the owner of two medical marijuana dispensaries was charged last year was unconstitutional because a valid program making medicinal pot readily available did not exist at the time, an Ontario court heard on Thursday. As a result, charges of possession for the purposes of trafficking and having proceeds of crime laid against Marek (Mark) Stupak should be thrown out, his lawyer Alan Young said. Stupak, 44, operated two "medical marijuana compassion clubs" known as the Social Collective in Toronto. Police charged him in May 2016 under the Controlled Drugs and Substance Act as part of a series of city-wide raids in an operation known as Project Claudia. [continues 499 words]
TORONTO - A man with a marijuana grow-op in his Barrie basement has had his drug conviction thrown out because police had no right to enter his home, even though his four-year-old child had been found wandering alone near a busy intersection dressed only in a diaper, Ontario's top court ruled on Wednesday. While officers said they went into the Barrie home to check that the child would be safe, the Court of Appeal found that to be a ruse. [continues 482 words]
Drug Conviction Quashed A man who hid drugs in his rectum had his trafficking conviction overturned Wednesday because Sarnia police detained him for 43 hours waiting for him to defecate before taking him to a justice of the peace. In throwing out the conviction, Ontario's highest court also criticized officers for how they treated Jeffrey Poirier during their "bedpan vigil search." "I do not accept that the officers were acting in good faith," the Appeal Court ruled. "The manner in which the search was carried out was a flagrant breach of the appellant's rights." [continues 296 words]
TORONTO - A woman found with marijuana in her car trunk has won an acquittal on appeal, in part because police violated her rights with an unnecessary high-risk takedown and then lied about what had happened. In a decision this week, Ontario's top court rejected prosecution arguments that the rights violations were minor or only happened after police had already found the drugs. "The admission of the marijuana would bring the administration of justice into disrepute," the Appeal Court said. [continues 424 words]
TORONTO - A traffic officer who routinely searched vehicles he stopped was out of line and should have known better, Ontario's top court ruled Wednesday. In throwing out a drug conviction, the court found a car search by Const. Robert Sinclair violated the rights of the accused, Alexander Harflett. "I do not doubt that Const. Sinclair believes that he is doing the right thing," the Court of Appeal said. "(But) as an instructor of other police officers, he ought to be fully conversant with his legal authority - but the evidence shows either that he was not or that he was prepared to search regardless." [continues 285 words]
Defendant's Lawyer Argues Punishment Was Excessive Given Efforts to Legalize Pot A Canadian man has been handed a mandatory life sentence for his role in a multi-million-dollar drug-trafficking operation that smuggled thousands of kilograms of marijuana into the United States, authorities said. Michael (Mickey) Woods, 45, of Cornwall, Ont., who had been convicted following a six-day jury trial last summer, was sentenced in federal court in Syracuse, N.Y. despite objections that the punishment was cruel and unusual. The court also ordered a $45-million (U.S.) judgment against him. Woods and co-accused Gaetan (Gates) Dinelle, 42, also of Cornwall, were found guilty of membership in three separate but related conspiracies, each involving a tonne or more of marijuana destined for the United States. [continues 500 words]
A Canadian teenager caught up in a double killing in Florida will ask a judge on Wednesday to grant him bail pending a trial that could lead to his life-long imprisonment. Marc Wabafiyebazu has pleaded not guilty to felony first degree murder and other charges in a drug-related shootout in March that left his 17-year-old brother, Jean Wabafiyebazu, dead. Court documents filed in support of the bail application argue that Marc Wabafiyebazu, son of a senior Canadian diplomat, was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. [continues 463 words]
TORONTO - Parents and civil-rights activists alike reacted with outrage Wednesday at word that Quebec school officials had strip-searched a teenaged girl suspected of having marijuana - with the blessing of provincial government policy. In a day and age where educators can lose their jobs for laying a hand on a student, the province's Education Minister Yves Bolduc defended the searches as a reasonable safety measure in which teachers need not consult parents but aren't allowed to touch the students. [continues 308 words]
Benefits Not Proven, Some Physicians Say TORONTO * Canada's ban on marijuana was effectively upheld Friday when Ontario's top court struck down an earlier court decision that said Canada's laws related to medicinal pot were unconstitutional. The Court of Appeal ruled the trial judge had made numerous errors in striking down the country's medical pot laws. Among other things, the Appeal Court found the judge was wrong to interpret an earlier ruling as creating a constitutional right to use medical marijuana. [continues 252 words]
Opportunity Missed, HIV/AIDS Group Says TORONTO - Canada's ban on marijuana was effectively upheld Friday when Ontario's top court struck down an earlier court decision that said Canada's laws related to medicinal pot were unconstitutional. In overturning the lower-court ruling, the Court of Appeal ruled the trial judge had made numerous errors in striking down the country's medical pot laws. Among other things, the Appeal Court found the judge was wrong to interpret an earlier ruling as creating a constitutional right to use medical marijuana. [continues 274 words]
Two-Year Operation Nets Charges Against 27 People TORONTO -- Sweeping dawn raids in which police blew open the door of a vacant Hells Angels clubhouse in Thunder Bay, Ont., and arrested six alleged members of the motorcycle gang were an election-driven publicity stunt, a biker spokesman said Thursday. Police, however, insisted they had done "significant" damage to a key Hells Angels chapter and disrupted the flow of illegal drugs across northern Ontario -- a view the group disputed. "There's a federal election going on -- the main issue seems to be crime -- and this is smoke and mirrors so they can say they are being tough on crime," said biker spokesman Donny Peterson. "It hasn't impacted the Hells Angels." [continues 302 words]
Cop Says 'Mistakes Will Happen' After Lawyer Is Accused Of Having Guns And Drugs (CP) - A dramatic takedown of a black lawyer in an apparent case of mistaken identity has heightened fears of racial profiling in a city already on edge after months of gun violence. "I wish I could tell you that this organization is a perfect organization, that it's only the criminals we will stop, but we know that mistakes will happen," Deputy Chief Keith Forde, Toronto's most senior black officer, said yesterday. "This police service is not perfect." [continues 276 words]
TORONTO - A crime crackdown that includes raising mandatory minimum sentences for gun crimes and ending house arrest for some other felonies is a political sham that will do nothing to make Canada's streets safer, top defence lawyers and other critics say. Criminologists and advocates for prisoners' rights fear the approach will merely criminalize more minority youths, fill crowded jails with people who should not be behind bars and gum up an already strained court system. "There's this real concern out there that we're moving towards this 'pander to law-and-order types' (trend)," said Bill Trudell, chairman of the Canadian Council of Criminal Defence Lawyers. "We know it's not going to work." [continues 163 words]
Proposed Legislation Allows Hydro Firms To Act Immediately If They Think Pot Is Being Grown At A Home TORONTO -- Hydro utilities in Ontario may soon have the power to cut off electricity to suspected marijuana grow operations without any warning to the home's occupants. Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter had spoken yesterday of planned legislation this fall that would give hydro and other inspectors the power to enter homes. But after a cabinet meeting, Kwinter told reporters he wouldn't do that after all. [continues 335 words]
Extraordinary Powers Needed To Fight 'Real Scourge,' Minister Says Hydro utilities in Ontario will soon have the power to cut off electricity to suspected marijuana grow operations without any warning to the home's occupants. Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter had said earlier today he planned legislation this fall that would give hydro and other inspectors the power to enter homes. But after a cabinet meeting, Kwinter told reporters at an impromptu news conference that he wouldn't be doing that after all. [continues 288 words]
TORONTO (CP) - Federal Justice Department plans to decriminalize the use of marijuana were met with a decidedly frosty response from Ontario and other provincial governments Tuesday. "I'm flabbergasted that the federal government has prioritized the decriminalization of marijuana at this time," said provincial Attorney General David Young. "It is not a priority for this government." On Monday, federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon said Ottawa wanted to move quickly on the issue and could bring in legislation early in the new year to decriminalize pot use. [continues 541 words]
TORONTO -- A growing plague of electricity-gobbling illegal marijuana grow-houses is costing Ontario's hydro utilities upwards of $500 million a year, an amount ultimately paid by all energy consumers, power distributors say. Fuelled by massive marijuana-generated profits, the operations, which have sprouted by the thousands in the past few years, also carry a huge social cost, they say. "The days where a grove of marijuana would be masked up north in a field are over," said Andrew Evangelista, a lawyer who represents electricity distributors. [continues 239 words]
TORONTO -- A growing plague of electricity-gobbling illegal marijuana growhouses is costing Ontario's hydro utilities upwards of $500 million a year, an amount ultimately paid by all energy consumers, power distributors say. Fuelled by massive marijuana-generated profits, the operations, which have sprouted by the thousands in the past few years, also carry a huge social cost, they say. "The days where a grove of marijuana would be masked up north in a field are over," said Andrew Evangelista, a lawyer who represents electricity distributors. [continues 480 words]
