It's time to erase cannabis convictions - Macleans.ca

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A pardon for a charge of simple cannabis possession can only do so much, says AEnenajor, criminal defence lawyer and founder of CannabisAmnesty. The real resolution is total amnesty—deletion of all criminal records relating to simple cannabis possession:

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is a litigator at Toronto’s Ruby Shiller Enenajor DiGiuseppe, Barristers, where she practices criminal defence, regulatory, constitutional and civil law. She is the founder and executive director of the non-profit Cannabis Amnesty.approved a three-year pilot project in British Columbia that will effectively decriminalize the possession of small amounts of drugs, like opioids, MDMA, methamphetamines and cocaine, in the hopes of curbing overdose-related deaths.

A charge of simple possession means that a person had drugs on them, but no intent to traffic. Even after legalization, the consequences of having this conviction on one’s record are huge: people can’t get jobs, can’t take out loans, can’t volunteer for their kids’ soccer teams and can’t cross the border.

Bill C-5, which cleared the House of Commons in June and will be studied in the Senate this fall, is a step in the right direction. It would remove mandatory minimum sentences for a number of drug offences, and would automatically sequester records related to all simple possession convictions two years after the passage ofdreds of thousands of Canadians, and is in the same general vein as what I’m proposing—but it doesn’t go far enough.

Cannabis amnesty is also a gateway to broader reforms in the criminal justice system. In 2015, when I started working in criminal defence, I noticed that law enforcement treated a lot of my Black clients—particularly Black men—much more harshly for possession and consumption of cannabis than clients who were white. Police officers have a lot of discretion in how they handle drug cases, particularly for “victimless crimes,” like people enjoybasis.

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CannabisAmnesty How is making it easier to get & use drugs (BC) going to stop oversdose deaths Those charged with possession knew it was illegal but went & did it anyway. Some got caught, others did not. Changing the law did not retroactively make it legal retroactively.

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