POT LOVERS BE WARNED: LAW CHANGED ... AGAIN

Niagara Regional Police officers have been instructed to resume laying
possession of marijuana charges -- no matter the amount -- after a
court decision went up in smoke earlier this week.

But while officers are clear about what is and is not the law, Deputy
Chief Donna Moody said members of the community may not be.

"The concern for us as a service and for most of the police officers
here is the fact the community is confused," she said Thursday.

Take a conversation she had back in the summer with a well-informed,
educated politician. She was explaining that officers were not able at
that time to enforce the law in Ontario in regard to possession of
marijuana. But the politician disagreed, saying police could lay
charges and she had to sit down and explain the legislation.

Now that's changed again.

"So the general public is confused and if you are a parent and you
have a child that is in high school or sometimes even younger, you are
not sure when they come home and tell you about these new laws," Moody
said. "It's very, very difficult to decipher, more so to them than
us."

For the record, possession of any amount of marijuana is now illegal
under the controlled drugs and substances act and police will charge
those caught with it.

"It's still business as usual," Moody said. "Marijuana from the
smallest amount of a cigarette to a pound ... it doesn't matter how
much you have, it's illegal."

In May, a Windsor justice ruled that possession of less than 30 grams
of marijuana was no longer against the law in Ontario.

The decision was appealed by the department of justice and the Ontario
court of Appeal made its ruling Tuesday. In its decision, the court
differentiated between recreational and mediciinal use of marijuana.

It said any constitutional limitations apply only to people with a
legitimate medical need for marijuana and not those who possess it for
other purposes.

Meanwhile, the federal government debated a controversial bill for
three hours in the House of Commons Wednesday that would decriminalize
simple possession of marijuana.

The house leader served notice Wednesday that he will refer the bill
to a special committee -- a committee that favoured decriminalization
in a report last year.

Moody said NRP officers understand the difference between the federal
and provincial rulings. And they are given information about changes
in legislation immediately after court decisions.

In June, they were told the appeal decision meant they could no longer
enforce the possession offence in Ontario. At the same time they knew
the federal government was putting through a bill to decriminalize
marijuana.

But the community's understanding is a different matter and the NRP
doesn't want the public to get the wrong idea.

Moody is co-chair of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police
substance abuse committee which deciphers the law for the association.
The chiefs have not supported the notion of decriminalization of marijuana.

Across the province, people have had a horrible confusion that police
haven't been enforcing the law so it must be a safe drug, she said.
"We don't want that message out there."

Just last month, three severely ill Port Colborne students were taken
to hospital after taking marijuana believed to be laced with an animal
tranquilizer.

Police are concerned about marijuana growing operations in their
communities and the dangers associated with them as well, she said.