SAULT POLICE WILL ENFORCE MARIJUANA POSSESSION LAW

Local News - Five months of penalty-free marijuana possession in Ontario has
come to a close, for the time being anyway.

Effective immediately, Sault Ste. Marie Police Service will lay possession
charges under Sec. 4 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for those
who are not exempted by the federal government to consume marijuana.

"We will advise our people that it's business as usual, and will immediately
enforce the law as it's currently written," said police chief Bob Davies,
following Tuesday's ruling by the Ontario Court of Appeal.

The court struck down several sections of the federal Marijuana Medical
Access Regulations as unconstitutional, thereby making it easier for sick
people to get safe, consistent access to marijuana.

The decision also effectively clarified the difference between consumption
for medicinal use -- legal, once a person is sanctioned by the federal
government -- and recreational use, which is once again illegal.

Police throughout Ontario abandoned laying possession charges for small
amounts -- typically, less than 30 grams -- after a Superior Court of
Ontario Justice upheld a lower court ruling throwing out a Windsor teen's
drug charges on May 16.

The judge said there was no legal basis to ban simple possession since
Ottawa failed to comply with a 2000 order to create new pot laws.

City police are taking direction from the Ontario Association of Chiefs of
Police. The Sault-based OACP forwarded talking points to members Tuesday
explaining that, "The offence is now constitutionally valid and of full
force and effect" and Ontario police "will immediately resume enforcement of
the law as it is currently written."

But the OACP cautions the ruling has no retroactive application prior to
Tuesday.

Back in the spring, the association directed police to seize evidence
pending legal clarification, with a view to eventually laying charges.

However, seizure proved unwieldy -- the May 16 decision "essentially took
away our lawful authority to seize," Davies said -- and prosecution is
effectively impossible now.

"There shouldn't be any retroactive charges being laid," Davies said. "We
wouldn't have any evidence to substantiate any offences."

Police are among those watching two separate developments that will likely
change legal policy again before long.

The Supreme Court of Canada is expected to rule on a different case this
fall that could determine the future of marijuana possession laws, and
Parliament is bracing for fierce debate over proposed legislation that would
soften penalties for possessing small amounts of the drug.

Should possession for social or recreational use eventually be legislated
into a ticketable offence or made wholly legal, Davies said, charges
currently being laid will still hold up in court.

"If that happens, we reassess our response, but now the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act says it's an offence to have marijuana for recreational use .
. . and that has been confirmed by the Ontario Court of Appeal," he said.

"Based on today's laws and the court's interpretation of the laws, we're
obliged as a police service and police officers to enforce the laws that are
standing today."