Pubdate: Wed, 12 Oct 2016 Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC) Copyright: 2016 Times Colonist Contact: http://www.timescolonist.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481 Author: Jeremy Maddock Page: A11 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v16/n633/a04.html COURTS SEND WRONG MESSAGE ON MARIJUANA Re: "Man convicted for dispensary pot buy," Oct. 4. With respect, I disagree with Chantelle Sutton's comment that her client "was guilty" of offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. In the recent decision of R. vs. Smith (involving a Victoria dispensary), a producer of unlicensed marijuana was acquitted because his products were for medical use. The Supreme Court of Canada made it clear that standing between patients and their medicine violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As Sutton correctly says, a person charged with possession of marijuana "will have to retain a lawyer, run a trial and face other financial repercussions." Most disabled individuals who use marijuana for medicinal purposes are not in a position to incur these expenses, not to mention the additional cost of a charter challenge to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The message sent by the courts is that dispensaries (i.e. "traffickers" in marijuana) operate with impunity, whereas terminally ill marijuana users continue to risk criminal records for accessing medicine. Such is the state of access to justice in B.C. Jeremy Maddock Victoria - --- MAP posted-by: Matt