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Cauchon says he’s willing to toughen marijuana law
By Hempology | October 1, 2003
From the Times Colonist, October 1st, 2003
LA MALBAIE, QUE. – Justice Minister Martin Cauchon says he will take
“a serious look” at toughening his bill to decriminalize marijuana so that
Canadians who are repeatedly caught possessing pot will be criminally charged
rather than ticketed.
The federal minister offered the concession at the urging of his provincial
counterparts, most of whom oppose marijuana decriminalization and want Ottawa
to abandon the proposed legislation in favour of other justice initiatives that
have been in the works for years.
“The question of repeat offenders has been raised, if it happens two, three, or
four times, what are we going to do,” Cauchon said after trying to pitch his
controversial bill to the provinces.
“If we can do something with that question of repeat offenders, we’ll have
serious look at it.”
The legislation, which Cuachon hopes to pass before Christmas, proposes to
decriminalize possession of 15 grams or less so that people would be fined from
$100 to $400 instead of being criminally charged. Police estimate that is the
eqivalent of about 15 joints, depending on how they are rolled.
“To move ahead with tickets, it is something that has been in place in other
countries, it’s been proven as well to be efficient,” said Cauchon.
The government’s premise is that police should not be using their resources
pursuing small-time offenders, nor should people caught with marijuana for their
own use be saddled with criminal records.
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