How Illegal is Marijuana?

By Castulo Zane


Is possession and cultivation of marijuana a big deal in BC? It is easy to find out exactly what happens if you get caught just by looking on the web. Look at the actual court cases below and see what you find out.

North Vancouver Provincial Court. Summer 2011 Charge: Possession of Cannabis. The court had to determine if proceeding with criminal charges was in the best interests of the public. The defense lawyer argued that it was not, and the defendant was sent through an alternate program. Upon completing the program charges were dropped. No criminal record resulted.

Nanaimo Provincial Court. May 2011.Charge: Production / Possession for the Purposes of Trafficking. The Crown had to prove that $2000 seized by police from the defendant was proceeds of crime. The defense lawyer persuaded the court to return the funds to the defendant.

Nanaimo Provincial Court. Early 2011. Offense: Possession of more than three kilos of pot and cultivation of pot. The police argued that the grower had about 200 plants, which is over 3 kilograms. The grower's lawyer got the Crown to change the charge to possession of less than 3 kilograms. The court imposed a 9 month conditional sentence and rejected a Crown request prohibit the grower from possessing hydroponic equipment.

Vancouver Provincial Court. October, 2010. Charge: Cultivation and possession of marijuana. The question was whether the police search warrant was valid. The grow operation had 250 plants. The police had to show that the grower had knowledge of and controlled the operation. The defense lawyer made his case to the Crown and they decided to stay the proceedings. No criminal record for the grower.

Abbottsford. Fall 2010. Offense: Cultivation and production of Cannabis. The police busted a grow op with more than 1000 plants. The lawyer negotiated it down to possession of 63 clones. There were lengthy negotiations with the crown, but in the end the grower got a conditional sentence for less than three kilos. He got no jail time.

Williams Lake Supreme Court. May, 2010. Charge: Production and Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking . Issue: The police caught a grower with a 5000 plant plus operation. The lawyer argued that they breached his rights by getting him to confess. After going to court the defense lawyer turned this into a plea bargain. The Crown originally wanted two years, but the defense lawyer got it reduced to a 12 month conditional sentence without house arrest. Also, there was no electronic monitoring and no probation.

A review of these charges and the results are educational. The punishment handed out was very lenient. Some growers escaped without any criminal record. It's pretty clear that BC is soft on marijuana production and possession.




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