Pubdate: Wed, 23 Dec 2015
Source: Prince George Citizen (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Prince George Citizen
Contact:  http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/350
Author: Laura Kane
Page: 6

CANADIANS WITH WEED CONVICTIONS CALL ON TRUDEAU FOR PARDONS

VANCOUVER - Marcus Richardson is, in the eyes of the law, a criminal.

Never mind that a judge ruled the six kilograms of cannabis police 
found in his car was for severely-ill patients at a medical marijuana 
dispensary.

Or that the same judge imposed only a minimum sentence because 
anything more would fail to maintain "a just, peaceful and safe society."

He's a criminal - and so are scores of other Canadians who face 
barriers to travel and work because they were caught with a drug that 
the government now intends to legalize.

"My charge wasn't like, 'He was practising civil disobedience at a 
place that was helping sick and dying people improve the quality of 
their last days on earth,"' Richardson said.

"If the charge read like that, I'd have no problem with it. It reads 
like, 'I'm a marijuana trafficker."'

Canadians with criminal records for marijuana crimes are eagerly 
waiting to see if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will offer pardons 
when pot is legalized. Tens of thousands are charged with possession 
every year, and if convicted face consequences that can be devastating.

Richardson was driving across Vancouver's Lions Gate Bridge in 1998 
when police stopped him at a roadblock and found several kilograms of 
marijuana and $6,000 in his trunk.

A judge found the drugs were intended only for B.C. Compassion Club 
Society members and the money was a "float" Richardson carried to pay 
growers. He was convicted of possession for the purpose of 
trafficking and received a suspended sentence and six months' probation.

Today, the 42-year-old father of three holds a federal licence to 
grow and possess marijuana and runs a business selling equipment for 
medical cannabis users.

Richardson is often asked to share his expertise with companies in 
the U.S., but he's barred from crossing the border. He'd also like to 
volunteer on his kids' field trips, but administrators conduct 
criminal record checks.

"I wouldn't want to embarrass my children," he said.

The previous Conservative government overhauled the pardon system in 
2012, making it more expensive and rigorous. Pardons, now called 
record suspensions, seal a criminal record to allow offenders who 
have lived crime-free to reintegrate, get better jobs and travel abroad.

The Parole Board of Canada has grappled with a backlog of pardon 
applications dating to the government's changes, though it said last 
May it only had 5,000 left.

Richardson became eligible for a pardon in 2008 and applied three 
years later, but he's still waiting. In frustration, he recently 
applied for a US$585 waiver that would allow him to cross the border.

Asked whether her government would offer general pardons to people 
with minor marijuana convictions, Justice Minister Jody 
Wilson-Raybould said she's working with the ministers of Health and 
Public Safety to hammer out the details of legalization.

"We will certainly look to have more to say about how we're going to 
move forward," she said. "But that includes actually having 
conversations ... with different levels of government and ensuring we 
speak to Canadians who have been impacted."

Simon Fraser University criminologist Neil Boyd said criminal 
convictions have significant effects on people's abilities to travel 
and work. Though pot possession doesn't carry the same stigma as 
other crimes, it's still a conviction that may be weighed against a 
job seeker, he said.

He said Trudeau's government should use its legislative powers to 
pardon Canadians with simple possession convictions.

"I don't think that should stay as a criminal record, given that we 
now are approaching an era in which it is going to be seen as 
analogous to alcohol or tobacco, and taxed and regulated in a 
somewhat similar manner."

Boyd noted that U.S. authorities can still refuse to allow people who 
have been pardoned to cross the border.

Dana Larsen of Sensible B.C., a marijuana-legalization advocacy 
group, said in addition to pardons he'd like to see Trudeau or a 
future prime minister apologize for prohibition.

"Prohibition was not a well-intentioned failure but a terrible policy 
that caused a lot of harm."

Retired corporal Clayton Goodwin, who represents a group called 
Veterans for the Use of Medical Marijuana, said he began growing 
medical pot to treat severe insomnia and stress triggered by serving 
in the Arctic during constant sunlight.

In 2008, police raided his Sarnia, Ont., home and found 22 immature 
plants, 95 grams of processed marijuana, morphine tablets and a 
shotgun in a closet without a trigger lock.

"This was my medicine. I'm Metis, I consider it a cultural aspect," 
he said recently, adding he didn't have any ammunition. "My shotgun 
had been gathering dust for years."

Goodwin pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana and morphine as 
well as careless storage of a shotgun. He was fined $1,500 and 
sentenced to one year of probation and drug counselling.

But the convictions' lingering effects have stayed with him much 
longer. The veteran has relatives in the U.S. who he can no longer 
visit. He said landlords have refused to rent to him. And more than 
anything, he said he's suffered mentally and emotionally.

Goodwin said a pardon would give him his life back.

"I wore a uniform for everyone, everyone's freedom. That's also the 
freedom to choose marijuana over pharmaceuticals."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom