With about a month left to go until Canada\u2019s federal adult-use cannabis system comes online, Canadian police are saying that they\u2019re actually anticipating\u00a0more\u00a0<\/i>cannabis-related arrests after legalization, due to their increased efforts to stop citizens from driving while high and other such offenses.<\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has set Oct. 17 as the date when cannabis legalization will take effect in the country. While the industry is anticipating a boom, there are growing ominous signs that legalization may in some ways paradoxically mean less freedom for individual tokers. For example, Trudeau\u2019s promised expungement of prior cannabis-related criminal records does not appear to be imminent, and U.S. immigration authorities say they will treat Canadians involved in the legal industry as \u201ctraffickers.\u201d\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\nHighway Crackdown in Canada?<\/h4>\n
The\u00a0Vancouver Courier<\/a>\u00a0this week presents us with the disconcerting headline, \u201cPot legalization will mean more work for police in BC.\u201d The newspaper quoted Eric Stubbs, the assistant commissioner for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in British Columbia, saying, \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be less work because it\u2019s legalized. It\u2019s going to be more.\u201d<\/p>\n Stubbs particularly cited an anticipated increase in driving under the influence of cannabis and insinuated an imminent crackdown.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a new, robust program on hand to spot impaired drivers,\u201d he said. \u201cWe certainly have to be ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n The question of cannabis-impaired driving is a\u00a0complicated one<\/a>, but Canadian lawmakers have given the country\u2019s police a sweeping law aimed at suppressing it.\u00a0This is Bill C-46, which was passed by the Canadian government over the summer in response to the passage of C-45, the Canadian Cannabis Act. Under C-46, motorists with two to five nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood will\u00a0face fines<\/a>\u00a0of up to $2,000 Canadian dollars. Drivers exceeding the five-nanogram limit, or with both THC and alcohol in their systems, could actually face 10 years in prison.<\/p>\n But Rob De Luca, director of the\u00a0Canadian Civil Liberties Association<\/a>\u2018s public safety program, protested to the\u00a0Washington Post<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cthe link between THC levels and impairment is quite loose.\u201d<\/p>\n Bill C-46 will also give police the power to stop any driver they reasonably suspect is under the influence of cannabis. As the\u00a0Canadian Broadcasting Corporation<\/a>\u00a0notes, previously this just applied to alcohol. But because studies suggest that cannabis does not cause loss of motor control as alcohol does, typically causing erratic driving such as weaving. This means that it is unclear what criteria police will use to make a determination about when a motorist can be stopped on suspicion of cannabis use.<\/p>\n Even before C-46 was passed, some of Canada\u2019s provinces were instating their own laws to crack down on cannabis use on the roads. Under\u00a0Nova Scotia\u2019s cannabis regulations, those deemed to be high behind the wheel could face a $10,000 fine. As the\u00a0Canadian Broadcasting Corporation<\/a>\u00a0noted, the law also makes it illegal for anyone other than the\u00a0Nova Scotia Liquor Corp<\/a>. to sell cannabis in the province. Violators of that provision will face a fine of up to $25,000. Those who purchase from anyone other than the NSLC may be fined $250.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the federal cannabis laws in Canada will allow those over 18 to possess up to 30 grams of legally-produced cannabis, and allow adults to grow up to four plants per household. But the provinces have been given broad leeway to instate their own regulations \u2014 including prohibitions on cultivation \u2014 creating a confusing\u00a0policy patchwork<\/a>.<\/p>\n One promise of Canadian legalization was that those previously convicted of possessing cannabis in the quantities covered by the new law would\u00a0have their records expunged<\/a>. However, in January, the Trudeau government made clear such an \u201camnesty\u201d would not be instated until after the federal government\u2019s legalization framework is in place. A measure introduced by the left-opposition\u00a0New Democratic Party<\/a>\u00a0to instate an immediate amnesty failed when Trudeau\u2019s Liberals voted against it.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not an item that\u2019s on the agenda at the moment,\u201d the administration\u2019s Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told\u00a0Macleans<\/a>.<\/p>\n According to the Macleans report, in 2016 (the last year data was available), 58 percent of all police-reported charges related to Canada\u2019s\u00a0Controlled Drugs and Substances Act<\/a>\u00a0(about 55,000) specifically concerned to cannabis \u2014 and of those offenses, some three-quarters were for simple possession. Under current law, those convicted of a \u201csummary possession\u201d offense (meaning under 30 grams) must wait five years to apply for expungement under the Criminal Records Act, assuming all outstanding sentences have been completed. Of course, under the new Cannabis Act, possessing that quantity will be legal for adults.<\/p>\n Then, there\u2019s the response to Canadian legalization from U.S. authorities \u2014 which, as one might imagine, has been unhelpful in the extreme. Apparently, Canadians who work in the cannabis industry \u2014 or even those who merely invest in it \u2014 could face a lifetime ban on travel to the United States<\/p>\n The U.S.\u00a0Customs and Border Protection<\/a>\u00a0agency will continue to apply standing laws and regulations that treat cannabis as a prohibited substance, and those involved in the cannabis industry as drug traffickers who are inadmissible for entry into the country. This is according to Todd Owen, executive assistant commissioner for CBP\u2019s\u00a0Office of Field Operations<\/a>, speaking to\u00a0Politico<\/a>\u00a0this week.<\/p>\n \u201cOur officers are not going to be asking everyone whether they have used marijuana, but if other questions lead there \u2014 or if there is a smell coming from the car, they might ask,\u201d Owen told Politico. And cannabis residue, which can linger for weeks inside an automobile, could be detected by CBP inspection dogs and lead to further questioning, he stated.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you lie about it, that\u2019s fraud and misrepresentation, which carries a lifetime ban,\u201d Owen said.<\/p>\n TELL US,<\/b>\u00a0do you think legalization should include decriminalization?<\/p>\n The post Canadian Police Are Expecting More Arrests After Legalization<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
With about a month left to go until Canada\u2019s federal adult-use cannabis system comes online, Canadian police are saying that they\u2019re actually anticipating\u00a0more\u00a0cannabis-related arrests after legalization, due to their increased efforts to stop citizens from driving while high and other such offenses. Canada\u2019s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has set Oct.Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5836,34,4589,5837,50,5838,5839,1697,809,1767,90,4136],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29308"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29308"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29309,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29308\/revisions\/29309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Canadian Cannabis Crime Expungement: Not in the Cards, For Now<\/h4>\n
U.S. Immigration Authorities Remain Stubborn<\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Canadian Police Are Expecting More Arrests After Legalization<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"