More than 15,000 people have been charged with possession of marijuana and more than 2,000 have been convicted since the Trudeau government was elected in October 2015 on a platform to legalize the drug. It also doesn’t prosecute offences under the Youth Criminal Justice Act in all provinces. “Until Bill C-45 becomes law, the existing laws regarding cannabis remain in effect,” Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould told the National Post in a statement. In comparison, the prosecution service is reporting a total of 15,300 charges in the first 18 months since the 2015 election. In other places, he said, “the police are coming down still quite hard on marijuana possession charges,” which he finds unfair.

Source: National Post June 02, 2017 23:15 UTC