FAIR AND EQUITABLE TREATMENT: THE RCMP WAY

The police are meant to be the trusted protectors of society. They
still have the trust of many people, and laws set by Parliament to
keep them in check -- except when it comes to marijuana.

Two weeks ago, the RCMP arrested a female high-school student at
Crescent Collegiate in Trinity Bay, and will charge her with drug
trafficking. The girl had a single joint in her possession.

The RCMP chose to make an example of this girl, and have shown no
consideration or sympathy for the ill effects a criminal record could
have on her life. Worse still, they admit it.

"We're trying to get a message out to other kids or like-minded
people around all the schools that we are promoting zero
tolerance," RCMP Corporal Phil Feltmate said to the CBC.
"Moving from one person to another is considered trafficking,
whether it's one joint or 10 tonnes. It doesn't make a big difference
with respect to the definition."

That's because the definition is shamefully vague. Trafficking
doesn't need to involve money; if the police and prosecutors choose
to, they can charge someone with trafficking if they simply pass a
joint to a friend while sharing.

The quantity is also a negligible factor. The proposed legislation to
decriminalize marijuana has died and any amount is enough to merit a
charge according to the criminal code.

However, the de facto law for some time now has been; to be charged
with marijuana trafficking, one must be clearly moving the product to
make a profit, and the amount is usually at least several ounces.

The fact of the matter is that the police and the courts do not have
the resources to deal with the vast numbers of marijuana users in
Canada. If the police charged everyone who smokes pot -- roughly
three to four-million Canadians -- with a trafficking charge the
courts would be overwhelmed and real criminals would go untouched.

Instead, they target and take advantage of this poor girl from Trinity Bay.

If she were standing on George Street, the police wouldn't have even
stepped out of their car. I can recall several acquaintances who have
been caught with anywhere between two grams to half an ounce and were
never charged. Most police officers know better, understand the
reality, and look the other way.

Not Phil Feltmate and the RCMP.

The RCMP can interpret and abuse the law whichever way they wish,
because the government hasn't stepped in to make things safe. An
Ontario court pushed for a change to Canada's marijuana laws in 2003,
and the Supreme Court conceded that the laws need work, but it wasn't
their job to do so.

"We conclude that it is within Parliament's legislative jurisdiction
to criminalize the possession of marijuana, should it choose to do
so," said the judgment co-written by justices Charles Gonthier and
Ian Binnie. "Equally, it is open to Parliament to decriminalize or
otherwise modify any aspect of the marijuana laws that it no longer
considers to be good public policy."

The cultural significance marijuana holds in Canada is widespread and
unstoppable. It hardly needs to be said that the "War on Drugs" was
lost long ago, but for the sake of space, I'll spare you the details.

My first wish is that the crown prosecutor looking at this case
realizes this, and dismisses it as ridiculous. Barring that, my next
wish would be for the family of this young girl to hire a good
lawyer, look for support from compassion groups advocating
decriminalization, and take another shot with the Supreme Court.

If not, we have just seen how the police can misuse their power, and
who knows when they will do it again.