Pubdate: Sat, 24 Aug 2013
Source: Chatham Daily News, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2013 Chatham Daily News
Contact: http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/letters
Website: http://www.chathamdailynews.ca
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1627
Author: Bob Boughner

TICKET POT USERS: POOLE

Top Cops Say Change in Law Would Save Policing and Court Costs

Chatham-Kent police Chief Dennis Poole agrees with Canada's top cops 
that handing out tickets for illegal possession of small amounts of 
marijuana could be more effective than laying criminal charges.

At the same time, Poole emphasized he does not support any move to 
totally decriminalize marijuana possession.

Delegates at the recent Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police 
passed a resolution saying officers need more enforcement options to 
deal with people caught with pot.

Association president Jim Chu, chief constable of the Vancouver 
Police Service, said having the option of writing tickets to penalize 
pot users caught with less than 30 grams of the drug would reduce 
policing and court costs.

Poole agreed during an interview with "I think it will streamline the 
system to deal with simple possession charges without involving the 
entire criminal justice system," Poole said. "It's an offence that 
now carries a fine anyway."

Poole said the ability to lay a ticket charge, rather than a criminal 
charge, is a more effective use of police resources and is not as 
onerous on the person charged.

The association said its ticketing proposal would require changing 
federal law, but that does not mean police chiefs support 
legalization of marijuana.

Justice Minister Peter MacKay said in an e-mail to The Canadian Press 
that the federal government has no intention of legalizing or 
decriminalizing marijuana.

"These drugs are illegal because of the harmful effects they have on 
users and on society for that matter," he said. "As a government, we 
have a responsibility to protect the interests of families across the country."

The association cited statistics from 2007 that show out of more than 
100,000 drug offences reported by police that year in Canada, 47,101 
of them were for marijuana possession.

Sarnia police Chief Phil Nelson said a move to issue tickets instead 
of formal charges for possession of small amounts of pot could ease 
the burden on the court system.

"It gives the officer a little more discretion," he said.

Some Canadians, Nelson said, are having difficulty getting across the 
border because maybe 20 years ago, they had a simple possession 
charge for a narcotic.

"I personally don't think anybody should be in possession of 
narcotics," he said. "But I can see the rationalization behind this."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom