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Advocates for medical marijuana speak out at protest
By Hempology | January 7, 2008
Saanich News, BC
21 Dec 2007
BILL HITS WRONG TARGET, SAY POT ADVOCATES
The smell of burning marijuana wafted briefly through a small crowd gathered in the public library courtyard in downtown Victoria.
A dapper Ted Smith, decked out in a suit for the occasion, was largely preaching to the converted when he spoke about the dangers of the Conservative government’s plan to impose mandatory minimum sentences for people convicted of trafficking even small amounts of illicit drugs, including marijuana.
“It’ll scare a lot of them out of doing it and the people who will end up doing it will be organized criminals,” Smith said.
During a Monday rally he quoted figures that under Bill C-26, which proposes changes to the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, 400 more people would be imprisoned in B.C. alone. Such a scenario would require another prison to be built, he said.
“I think the whole community will suffer if these laws come in, because the court system and jails will get bogged down.”
The marijuana legalization advocate garnered the support of Victoria NDP MP Denise Savoie and Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca Liberal MP Keith Martin in calling for the bill to be altered.
Among other changes, the bill calls for a mandatory six-month jail sentence for people convicted of possessing fewer than 201 plants for the purpose of trafficking. The sentences increase based on the number of plants seized and other factors, such as posing health or safety hazards to youth or growing in a third party-owned residence.
Smith argues that the six-month sentences, particularly, unfairly targets people who might be passing a couple of joints back and forth, or the “mom and pop” growers who aren’t causing problems in the community.
While he had yet to read the proposed amendments, Victoria police Sgt. Grant Hamilton said in general the department will continue to focus its resources in the areas that are going to have the biggest impact on reducing the drug trade in the city, regardless of how the justice system determines sentences.
“We’ve heard from the public that drug concerns are paramount,” he said, “so we’ll continue to focus on trafficking in illicit drugs around schools, the trafficker that is trafficking downtown that is a concern to businesses or a person ( in a neighbourhood ) who is a concern to residents.”
This week, Saanich-Gulf Islands Conservative MP and Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn said his government is addressing police frustration with the justice system after they work hard to get an arrest and help secure a conviction of a drug trafficker.
“We’re ensuring the police can deliver,” he said.
“We are taking a tough approach on the use of illegal drugs and narcotics – anything we can do to get aggressive on crime and support the police in their efforts to keep people from falling into the circle of using drugs.”
Martin, who has advocated for the legalization of marijuana, admitted that marijuana has harmful health effects, but regulating sales of the drug would generate money to put into drug education in the schools, and for enforcement against more serious drug crime issues.
“The poison pill on this bill is where you can throw somebody in jail for having one plant and for selling or trading one or two joints to somebody else, which could put a whole host of teenagers and young people in jail. That doesn’t serve our community.”
For her part, Savoie said the bill does nothing to curb drug use. The government needs to adopt a balanced structure centred around harm reduction.
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