CITY POLICE GETTING TOUGHER WITH POT SMOKERS

Number Charged With Simple Possession Doubles In Five Years

The number of people charged with simple possession of marijuana in
the City of Vancouver has doubled over just the past five years --
suggesting the city's reputation for leniency on pot may no longer be deserved.

Indeed, new crime figures suggest the chance of being criminally
charged for smoking a joint is actually higher now in Vancouver than
in other B.C. cities like Surrey, Coquitlam, Prince George and Kelowna.

That's almost the exact reverse of the situation in the late 1990s,
when the Vancouver Police Department's reputation for turning a blind
eye to pot earned the city the nickname "Vansterdam."

Vancouver is still lenient by national standards -- with only 34
possession charges per 100,000 people, compared to the national average of 77.

But the numbers are going up fast.

In all, 200 people were charged with simple possession of marijuana
in Vancouver in 2006 -- up from 133 a year earlier.

And the the number of pot charges has been steadily rising in the
city since 2001, when just 99 people were charged.

The jump in marijuana charges in Vancouver is all the more striking
because it comes at the same time that marijuana possession charges
have been generally dropping in B.C.

For example, between 2001 and 2006, the number of people charged with
marijuana possession dropped from 123 to 47 in Surrey, from 112 to 57
in Victoria, from 41 to 27 in Kelowna and from 38 to nine in West Vancouver.

VPD spokesman Const. Tim Fanning said there has been no specific
change in policy to target marijuana users.

But he said Vancouver's reputation as a lenient place for pot smokers
may have left some with a false sense of security.

"It may be that people feel . . . that they can do drugs openly. And
that simply is not the case," he said. "It's still illegal and at any
time someone could face a possession charge."

Fanning said the increase in pot charges may also be due to the VPD's
increase in street-level enforcement.

While that enforcement is targeted at dealers, not users, said
Fanning, police sometimes pursue a possession charge against a dealer
when they don't have enough evidence of trafficking.

Crown prosecutors in B.C. make the ultimate decision on whether to
charge someone with a crime -- but can do so only after police
forward a report to them outlining the nature of the offence.

Bob Prior, regional director of the Public Prosecution Service of
Canada, said Wednesday his office has definitely noticed an increase
in reports from the VPD on all types of drug-possession cases,
including marijuana.

"I think clearly the Vancouver city police are focusing more on
[drug] possession across the board," he said.

The increase was so dramatic, said Prior, that his office launched a
review three years ago to find out what kind of people were being
charged with pot possession.

Prior said the review found that only a few of those charged were
first-time offenders.

"The overwhelming majority had a history of some type with the
justice system," he said. "I think what it shows is that the police
use discretion."

Prior said most of those convicted of marijuana possession in B.C.
receive a fine or probation -- with very few getting any jail time.

Marc Emery, one of B.C.'s leading advocates for marijuana
legalization, said the new figures should be a warning to cannabis
users in Vancouver.

"A lot of young people are under the impression that pot is legal,"
he said. "People think they have immunity in the 'Vansterdam' region
- -- and that's illusory."

Statistic Canada only records the most serious offence in cases where
there are multiple charges.

As a result, cases where someone was charged with marijuana
possession along with a growing-operation or trafficking charge would
not be counted.

Most cases of marijuana possession in B.C. are handled outside the
court system, usually through "no-case seizures" where police seize
and destroy the marijuana they find and write up a report, but do not
recommend charges.

Indeed, only 8.7 per cent of marijuana-possession incidents in B.C.
result in charges, compared to 39.3 per cent nationwide and 54.2 per
cent in Ontario.

Vancouver, which used to have one of the lowest charge rates in B.C.,
now has one of the highest -- pursuing charges in 18.7 per cent of all cases.

Among major B.C. cities, only Victoria is higher, at 28.2 per cent.

By contrast, fewer than five per cent of marijuana-possession cases
result in charges in Coquitlam and Surrey.