Passing the Joint Could Make You a Drug Trafficker. - Polidicks

[release][table][tr][td][/td][td] [h2]Experts urge Conservatives to temper new crime bill[/h2] [B]Even offering to share marijuana with friend considered trafficking[/B] OTTAWA — Passing a joint to a friend would be punishable by months in jail if the Conservatives don’t change their new crime legislation, experts warned this week. A student living in a rented apartment who grows a single marijuana plant and offers some to a friend would face nine months in jail, said University of Toronto criminologist Anthony Doob. Doob was one of several experts who appeared before the House of Commons justice committee this week to plead with the government to temper its new crime bill. “To be clear, sharing or even offering to share marijuana with a friend is trafficking,” he said. “This is what the law now says.” Bill C-10, the Conservatives’ sweeping nine-part crime bill that stiffens many penalties, does not require money to change hands for a drug transaction to meet the definition of trafficking. That means someone who grows six or more marijuana plants could face a new minimum sentence of six months in jail if he or she so much as offers pot to friends. Another provision puts the minimum sentence for trafficking at nine months if even one pot plant is grown using property that belongs to a third party. Conservatives say fears are overblown and the legislation is meant to go after organized crime. But Doob said it’s not written that way. “Anyone who looks carefully at many of Bill C-10’s mandatory minimum sentencing provisions would have a hard time defending their appropriateness,” Doob said. “A law purposefully made incoherent does not deserve respect.” Over the past 12 months, 91 charges have been filed in Nova Scotia for drug trafficking under section 7(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. If all of them ended in convictions, it would equate to a minimum of 45 years of imprisonment doled out under the new law. The last calculation of the average daily cost of housing an adult prisoner was $184 per day in 2009-10, according to Justice Department staff. Even based on minimum six-month sentences, that would put the total imprisonment cost for those convictions under the proposed new law at more than $3 million. Nova Scotia’s prison population is close to capacity. There are 554 adult beds, with 547 adult prisoners now serving sentences. The cost for adult correctional facilities in 2010-11 was $28.5 million. There are also 108 spots for youths, of which 41 are occupied. The Public Prosecution Service of Canada did not have a breakdown of what happened with the 91 trafficking charges, but Peter Chisholm, the chief federal prosecutor for Atlantic Canada, said they often end in plea bargains and deferred sentences such as house arrest. Those deferred sentences would become impossible under the proposed new law. Provincial staff say they have not calculated the cost of the Conservatives’ crime bill or its effect on inmate populations. But the province has signalled that it will be asking the federal government to cover a share of the new costs. A new $31-million, 100-bed provincial jail is being built in Coalburn, Pictou County. Other groups that called for amendments to various parts of the crime bill this week included the Canadian Bar Association, the federal ombudsman for victims of crime, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition and the John Howard Society. Doob said prosecutors would essentially be able to extort guilty pleas by offering to drop charges that would carry hefty minimum sentences. Eric Gottardi of the Canadian Bar Association said the bill “represents a profound shift in orientation from a system that prioritizes public safety through individualized sentencing, rehabilitation and reintegration to one that puts punishment and vengeance first.” Not everyone at the justice committee hearings was opposed to the new crime bill. Commissioner Don Head of Correctional Service Canada said it would give his organization new powers to create safer communities while addressing the needs of victims. The Ottawa Police Service and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police said the bill would help restore public confidence in the justice system. Ultimately the testimony may not have any impact outside the committee room doors. The Conservatives have a majority government and have so far given no indication they are open to amending the bill. [/td][/tr][/table][/release] Oh well, more for me. [url]http://thechronicleherald.ca/news/26596-experts-urge-conservatives-temper-new-crime-bill[/url]

Does shooting someone make me an arms trafficker?

[QUOTE=Mingebox;32917801]Does shooting someone make me an arms trafficker?[/QUOTE] Nononono, handing a gun over to someone would be a more apt comparison.

[quote] said University of Toronto criminologist [B]Anthony Doob[/B] [/quote] Come on nooooow.

The stupidity of this makes my head hurt. [editline]23rd October 2011[/editline] Why are people so against people getting high for fucks sake.

I once did a voluntary polygraph test at the R.C.M.P. University in Ottawa for the Degree Polygraph Testers take. It was very professionally, incredibly informational, and well-done. They definitely know what they're doing with that machine. In the scenario they gave us to lie about, that was one thing they tried to morally stick me on - that passing a joint was drug trafficking. It was so absurd I argued it [i]during[/i] the interrogation and I won out on her about it. So silly.

[QUOTE=Stormcharger;32918207] Why are people so against people getting high for fucks sake.[/QUOTE]it all boils down to mexicans and their immoral devil music

[QUOTE=Edthefirst;32917845]Nononono, handing a gun over to someone would be a more apt comparison.[/QUOTE]Buy you're giving them bullets which they then conceal inside their body.

The torries aren't amending the bill just yet. Of course I'd hardly blink an eye of they did try to pull this bullshit.

Yet anyone caught with alcohol underage will get much less time, how ironic. Now if you were selling homemade moonshine and hard liqueur that would be different.

I don't understand why other people have concerns of what we consume. At all.

[QUOTE=Edthefirst;32917845]Nononono, handing a gun over to someone would be a more apt comparison.[/QUOTE] Police asked for my gun, then arrested me for arms trafficking!!!

This has always been true. It's just based on discrection.

I thought trafficking consisted of the smuggling of goods in exchange for goods, services or currency, how does this in any way follow that general pattern?

Drugs are bad, m'kay, unless prescribed by your doctor, or if it's caffeine, nicotine, or alcohol. Edit: Holy shit it was a joke.

[QUOTE=Chicken_Chaser;32920104]Drugs are bad, m'kay, unless prescribed by your doctor, or if it's caffeine, nicotine, or alcohol.[/QUOTE] Alcohol is waaaay worse than marijuana. Also most medicine's are also considered drugs, so let's all die from lack of treatment.

[QUOTE=Chicken_Chaser;32920104]Drugs are bad, m'kay, unless prescribed by your doctor, or if it's caffeine, nicotine, or alcohol.[/QUOTE]It's actually just the latter two which are harmful to you by a longshot.

Who cares whats more harmful or not, I should be able to put what I want into my body.

[QUOTE=Van-man;32920224]Alcohol is waaaay worse than marijuana. Also most medicine's are also considered drugs, so let's all die from lack of treatment.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Lizzrd;32920288]It's actually just the latter two which are harmful to you by a longshot.[/QUOTE] I'm p sure he was kidding.

haha good thing i live in holland

[quote]Anthony Doob[/quote] No way that's his real name.

[QUOTE=Stormcharger;32920342]Who cares whats more harmful or not, I should be able to put what I want into my body.[/QUOTE]Sorry but some people think they know better what you need than yourself.

[QUOTE=Stormcharger;32920342]Who cares whats more harmful or not, I should be able to put what I want into my body.[/QUOTE] I have the right to legally drink bleach why not smoke weed huhhh

Good, I'm glad their clamping down on this. What if jonny teenager somehow manages to legally get his hands on some weed, and gets his friend into the addiction by handing it over? Good thing it is punishable, people shouldn't ever feel under pressure to purchase or consume the product IMO.

Which is silly [editline]23rd October 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=AceOfDivine;32920652]Sorry but some people think they know better what you need than yourself.[/QUOTE]

So it's like sending friend a song makes you a pirate and a file sharer?

Doob needs a doobie.

[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;32920739]So it's like sending friend a song makes you a pirate and a file sharer?[/QUOTE] Both of you become that actually.

[QUOTE=Van-man;32920893]Both of you become that actually.[/QUOTE] Arr matey

[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;32920652]Sorry but some people think they know better what you need than yourself.[/QUOTE] I actually think their justifications are that you could injure other people as a result of using drugs.