Ottawa, Ontario: The Chretien government introduced legislation in the House of Commons on Tuesday amending federal marijuana enforcement policies, and appropriating some $245 million for drug education and research. The legislation follows a pair of Parliamentary reports released last year urging the government to significantly liberalize the nation’s pot laws.
The most notable provision in the legislation (Bill C-38) would reduce penalties on the possession and use of up to 15 grams (about half an ounce) of marijuana and/or one gram of cannabis resin to a ticketable, fine-only offense. In cases involving larger amounts of marijuana (up to 30 grams), police will have the discretion to either issue the defendant a ticket or a summons to appear in criminal court.
Failure to pay the fine will not result in a criminal conviction, under the proposed law. In addition, individuals who challenge their ticket in court will not face any criminal penalty, even if they are found guilty of pot possession.
NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre applauded the decriminalization provisions in C-38, noting, “Criminal consequences for the possession of marijuana by adults are disproportionate to any potential harms associated with the responsible use of the drug. The introduction of this legislation is an acknowledgment from the Canadian government that greater harm is caused by marijuana prohibition than by marijuana itself.”
Twelve US states have enacted similar marijuana decriminalization laws, making possession of anywhere from 28 to 100 grams (about 3 ounces) of marijuana a fine-only offense. According to a 1999 report by the US National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine (IOM), adolescents in decriminalized states report “using no more marijuana than … their counterparts in states where marijuana [is] not decriminalized.”
Other provisions in the legislation call for an increase in penalties on marijuana cultivation, including doubling the maximum penalty for cultivating 50 plants or more from 7 to 14 years in prison. In cases involving the cultivation of more than three plants, a judge would have to provide reasons why imprisonment was not imposed if so-called “aggravating factors” (i.e. cultivation in a facility where children were present) were involved.
St. Pierre warned that any significant crackdown on personal cultivation could have a negative impact on patients who grow marijuana for medical use, and also needlessly force many users to obtain marijuana from the black market.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre of the NORML Foundation at (202) 483-8751. Text of C-38 is available online at:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/2/parlbus/chambus/house/bills/government/C-38/C-38_1/C-38_cover-E.html