Cpl. Francis Made News for Smoking Pot in Uniform

FREDERICTON - The death of RCMP Cpl. Ron Francis, who helped draw attention to post-traumatic stress disorder among emergency first responders, is a terrible loss that underscores the need to deal with the issue, the RCMP's commanding officer in New Brunswick said Tuesday.

"It's unfortunate that this condition, if you will, took over and consumed him, but he didn't let go," assistant commissioner Roger Brown told a news conference at RCMP headquarters in Fredericton. "His goal was to try to make some sense of it himself and to bring an awareness to what this is all about."

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Force Was Working With Colleague Who Wanted to Smoke Pot in Uniform

FREDERICTON - The death of RCMP Cpl. Ron Francis, who helped draw attention to post-traumatic stress disorder among emergency first responders, is a terrible loss that underscores the need to deal with the issue, the RCMP's commanding officer in New Brunswick said Tuesday.

"It's unfortunate that this condition, if you will, took over and consumed him, but he didn't let go," assistant commissioner Roger Brown told a news conference at RCMP headquarters in Fredericton. "His goal was to try to make some sense of it himself and to bring an awareness to what this is all about."

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FREDERICTON, N.B.- A New Brunswick Mountie who attracted national attention for complaining that he wasn't allowed to smoke medicinal marijuana for his post-traumatic stress disorder while in uniform has been deemed fit to stand trial on charges of assaulting two RCMP officers, the Crown and defence said Monday. Cpl. Ron Francis, who faces two counts of assaulting police and one count of resisting arrest, was released from custody after he underwent a 30-day psychiatric assessment. Francis was ordered to follow conditions including that he refrain from alcohol and non-prescription drugs, report to a local mental health clinic and not possess firearms. The psychiatric assessment was not dealt with in court, but both Crown and defence lawyers later confirmed that Francis was considered mentally fit to face trial. The case was adjourned until Feb. 4.

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Mature Muisings

I'm no doubt preaching to the choir here when I say I think marijuana should be legalized. And that's an opinion that would stand just as firmly in a university paper today as it would have had I been writing during the good old "drug, sex and rock-and-roll" days in the '70s.

The difference is that, today, the majority of Canadians of all ages now agree with me. In fact, a 2012 Angus Reid Public Opinion Poll found that 57 per cent of Canadians across the country say marijuana should be legalized and 66 per cent say they expect it will be within ten years.

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FREDERICTON (CP) -- The case of a New Brunswick Mountie who's reportedly been told he cannot smoke the drug while in uniform underscores the need for employers to better understand medicinal marijuana, an advocate for medical cannabis said Thursday.

Adam Greenblatt, president of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries, said the RCMP should ultimately allow Cpl. Ron Francis to smoke in uniform providing he is not impaired while working.

"If this officer was a diabetic, would they prevent him from using insulin on the job?" Greenblatt said from Montreal. "That's the way I see it."

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