POT FINES NOT SEEN AS A CASH COW

Don't expect police departments to rake in scads of cash by ticketing pot
smokers if Ottawa decriminalizes marijuana possession, experts say. "I'm
not sure it's going to be a huge money-maker for police, because they don't
go out and actually look for people who have joints," U of A criminal law
professor Sanjeev Anand said yesterday.

"What usually happens is people are arrested for another reason, they're
searched and a small amount of marijuana is found on them."

If cops use pot tickets to generate revenue in the same way red-light
cameras and photo radar are used, "then I think we have another serious
concern - why are we diverting law enforcement officials from issues that
genuinely deal with protection of the public, into these types of nuisance,
coffer-filling activities?" Anand said.

There should be no financial incentive for cops to write pot-possession
tickets, agrees Alberta Civil Liberties Association president Stephen Jenuth.

"One would hope the fine revenue doesn't go to police, like the money from
photo radar tickets."

The revived marijuana decriminalization bill given first reading in the
House of Commons this week calls for a $150 fine for any adult caught with
less than 15 grams of pot.

The government could make more money off tokers by simply legalizing and
taxing marijuana, Anand noted.

"That's the reality. It certainly wouldn't be inconsistent with our
approach to alcohol, and there would be quality assurance that way."

Legal pot would also remove profits from organized crime, Anand said.

But logic and politics don't always go together.

"It would make a lot of sense for them to do it, but I think they want to
hold onto this idea that marijuana is bad, and therefore we'll look the
other way in the sense that we're not going to criminalize it, but it would
still be against the law."

Part of the newly revived bill deals with the issue of reefer-impaired
drivers on the road by giving police more power and training to nab suspects.

"I think that's a good thing, but they should have the training and the
technology in place to detect drivers impaired by pot before they change
the legislation. It doesn't sound like they've been very comprehensive,"
Anand said.