NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/02/03/regina-pot060203.html

- ARTICLE -

Regina police have charged an AIDS patient who uses marijuana to reduce his nausea with illegally growing the drug.

Tom Shapiro had a licence from Health Canada to grow pot, but it expired in October.

He applied for a new licence before the old one ran out, but Regina police got to him first.

They raided his house on Tuesday with a search warrant, and seized his marijuana plants and equipment.

Shapiro received his new licence from Health Canada Thursday afternoon, about an hour before he was required to report to the police station.

He said he was put in a cell, fingerprinted, had his picture taken, and was charged with growing marijuana contrary to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

He said he asked health officials what to do until the new licence arrived.

"They never said to me, 'Tom, you got to take your plants out of there, after your licence expired, and when you get your new one you can start over again.' They never said anything like that.

"Had they done that, I would have paid attention to what I was told, because I would like to keep within the law on this."

Shapiro said he felt Health Canada had not dealt properly with him. "This is exactly what I was trying to avoid when I asked them about my licence being so late."

The Regina police said they have to follow the law, and Shapiro didn't have a licence when officers went to his house.

He has been ordered to appear in court on March 7.


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- I'm so not at all impressed with this. Regina, hang your collective head in shame for putting callous officiousness ahead of common decency.

Fire your Police Chief.

a stupid american question: how can an organization give liscenses for something illegal? just wondering.


and it is horrible. i am willing to bet this was planned. they held his mail or knew it was going to expire/be late and set up the raid.

Et maintenant, un joli BUMP.

well that is an etreme example of assholery. what is the point of tormenting an aids patient?

are the canadian prisons so empty that they need to toss in some sick guys who violated the law on a technicality?

a stupid american question: how can an organization give liscenses for something illegal? just wondering.
Technically, a licence is the government giving people permission to do something illegal. Driving on public property (ie streets) and carrying a concealed weapon are both illegal in the US. However, there are processes in place to allow certain people licence to step around the law.
Canada just decided to extend this to marijuana.

And in response to the story? I giggled. Government and Beaurocracy, working together, for the people.
Which people? The parents of the children. You know, the stupid ones who need warning labels all over the place and government coddling to prevent them from getting booboos.

Technically, a licence is the government giving people permission to do something illegal. Driving on public property (ie streets) and carrying a concealed weapon are both illegal in the US. However, there are processes in place to allow certain people licence to step around the law.
Canada just decided to extend this to marijuana.

oh thanks. is health canada gov't owned/op'd? if it isn't. then how do they get clearance to circumvent the law? i guess they get approval from the same gov't who arrested the guy?

One day we will be as embarassed of our pot-phobia as we now are of the misguided Prohibition years. You'd think we would learn from our mistakes, but no...

a stupid american question: how can an organization give liscenses for something illegal? just wondering.
It is illegal to drive a car without a driver's license.
It is illegal to go hunting without a hunting license (and in the wrong season).
etc.

One day we will be as embarassed of our pot-phobia as we now are of the misguided Prohibition years. You'd think we would learn from our mistakes, but no...

thats exactly what I think. And ive given a 5 minute speech on it twice.:p

Et puis un autre BUMP...

Seems silly to do this based on a technicality. While it is true that you can receive a punishment for driving without a license, the punishment isn't going to jail.

thats some really fucked up stuff right there. poor guy.

Technically, a licence is the government giving people permission to do something illegal. Driving on public property (ie streets) and carrying a concealed weapon are both illegal in the US. However, there are processes in place to allow certain people licence to step around the law.
Canada just decided to extend this to marijuana.
It's not acurate to say they're illegal activities, they're regulated. You can't just go and do them, you need to prove that you can or need to do them, cover some requisites, and then you get a licence to show that you passed. Some licences require you to stay current after that.

It's stupid to arrest someone over an expired licence, it's not like he wasn't trying to renew it. The cops probably have to show they're fighting hard against drugs or something.

oh thanks. is health canada gov't owned/op'd? if it isn't. then how do they get clearance to circumvent the law? i guess they get approval from the same gov't who arrested the guy?
Health Canada is a department of the federal government.

I guess what I find most disconcerting is the impression I was left with, that Health Canada seems to have acted in collusion with the Regina cops in order to make an ill person a criminal.

I guess what I find most disconcerting is the impression I was left with, that Health Canada seems to have acted in collusion with the Regina cops in order to make an ill person a criminal.
On the contrary, the role of Health Canada essentially ended when they put his licence in the post days before.

The cops did what was right in the moment. The courts will show lenience. It's a waste of legal time and money, but proper procedure, in my opinion.

Seems silly to do this based on a technicality. While it is true that you can receive a punishment for driving without a license, the punishment isn't going to jail.
As proven by the drivers still on the street who have had their licenses revoked indefinately.. thrice.

I guess what I find most disconcerting is the impression I was left with, that Health Canada seems to have acted in collusion with the Regina cops in order to make an ill person a criminal.

I wouldnt confuse incompetancy with intent. Sounds to me like Health Canada was just being lazy not telling him what to properly and the police just felt like busting somebody.

I don't know what the laws of Canada are in this regard. But I hope this man can take some sort of legal action against the city/provence. At the very least he should be compensated for his loss.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/02/03/regina-pot060203.html

- ARTICLE -

Regina police have charged an AIDS patient who uses marijuana to reduce his nausea with illegally growing the drug.

Tom Shapiro had a licence from Health Canada to grow pot, but it expired in October.

He applied for a new licence before the old one ran out, but Regina police got to him first.

They raided his house on Tuesday with a search warrant, and seized his marijuana plants and equipment.

Shapiro received his new licence from Health Canada Thursday afternoon, about an hour before he was required to report to the police station.

He said he was put in a cell, fingerprinted, had his picture taken, and was charged with growing marijuana contrary to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

He said he asked health officials what to do until the new licence arrived.

"They never said to me, 'Tom, you got to take your plants out of there, after your licence expired, and when you get your new one you can start over again.' They never said anything like that.

"Had they done that, I would have paid attention to what I was told, because I would like to keep within the law on this."

Shapiro said he felt Health Canada had not dealt properly with him. "This is exactly what I was trying to avoid when I asked them about my licence being so late."

The Regina police said they have to follow the law, and Shapiro didn't have a licence when officers went to his house.

He has been ordered to appear in court on March 7.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------

- I'm so not at all impressed with this. Regina, hang your collective head in shame for putting callous officiousness ahead of common decency.

Fire your Police Chief.
This wouldn't have anything to do with the Conservatives winning the federal election would it? We do know what their stand on the legalization of cannabis is.

I am just throwing it out there....I may be way off base with this, but the thought did enter my brain.

This wouldn't have anything to do with the Conservatives winning the federal election would it? We do know what their stand on the legalization of cannabis is.

I am just throwing it out there....I may be way off base with this, but the thought did enter my brain.
This is part of the reason why it seemed to me like Health Canada might have been purposefully going slow on this poor fella's licence renewal.