Your June 10 story "Arrested for legal pot, man claims" is really just the tip of the iceberg. As a medical marijuana licensee myself and a retired Winnipeg Police staff sergeant, I know that such actions by the police, where citizens produce evidence of lawful possession, then are handcuffed, detained and their product seized, is tantamount to unlawful arrest and seizure.

The smell of marijuana coming from a car is not sufficient grounds to arrest and search, whether the subject is licensed or not. But the oppressive and apparently violent arrest of a licensed medical-marijuana user because the officers are not familiar with medical-marijuana laws is outright nonsense. Ignorance of any law is no excuse from a citizen. Why should we let police officers get away with this kind of attack?

[continues 79 words]