How illegal, exactly, is it to possess or cultivate weed in British Columbia? It's simple to find real examples of what happens just by looking on the web. Below I have some actual examples of sentences.
Provincial Courthouse, North Van. June, 2011. Offense: Possession of Marijuana. The defense lawyer had to have the court decide if criminal charges were in the public interest. The court decided to proceed with an alternative measures program involving a course. On completion of the course the charges were dropped. There was no criminal record as a result.
Nanaimo Provincial Court. Spring 2011. Offense: Cultivation and possession plus an application to return seized money. $2000 seized by police from the defendant was alleged to be proceeds of crime. The defense argued that this was wrong and had the court return the funds to his client.
Nanaimo Provincial Court. Early 2011. Offense: Possession of more than three kilos of pot and cultivation of pot. The police argued that the grower had about 200 plants, which is over 3 kilograms. The grower's lawyer got the Crown to change the charge to possession of less than 3 kilograms. The court imposed a 9 month conditional sentence and rejected a Crown request prohibit the grower from possessing hydroponic equipment.
Vancouver Provincial Court. October, 2010. Charge: Cultivation and possession of marijuana. The question was whether the police search warrant was valid. The grow operation had 250 plants. The police had to show that the grower had knowledge of and controlled the operation. The defense lawyer made his case to the Crown and they decided to stay the proceedings. No criminal record for the grower.
Provincial Court, Abbottsford. Fall, 2010. Charge: Possession and cultivation of marijuana. The grower possessed more than 1000 plants in a huge grow op. His lawyer negotiated a plea bargain that had his client admit to possession of only 63 clones. That equates to a guilty plea to possession of less than three kilos. Three month's conditional sentence, and no jail time.
Williams Lake BC. Mid- 2010. Offense: Production of marijuana and possession for the purposes of trafficking. The police busted a 5000+ plant operation. The crown wanted a two year sentence. The grower had confessed. The defense lawyer argued that his rights had been breached in obtaining the confession. He turned this into a plea bargain. The grower got a 12 month conditional sentence. No house arrest. No electronic monitoring. No probation.
This history of charges and the results is instructive. The courts are very lenient. Growers got their wrists slapped. Some escaped with no criminal record. It's obvious that British Columbia is soft on marijuana production and possession.
Provincial Courthouse, North Van. June, 2011. Offense: Possession of Marijuana. The defense lawyer had to have the court decide if criminal charges were in the public interest. The court decided to proceed with an alternative measures program involving a course. On completion of the course the charges were dropped. There was no criminal record as a result.
Nanaimo Provincial Court. Spring 2011. Offense: Cultivation and possession plus an application to return seized money. $2000 seized by police from the defendant was alleged to be proceeds of crime. The defense argued that this was wrong and had the court return the funds to his client.
Nanaimo Provincial Court. Early 2011. Offense: Possession of more than three kilos of pot and cultivation of pot. The police argued that the grower had about 200 plants, which is over 3 kilograms. The grower's lawyer got the Crown to change the charge to possession of less than 3 kilograms. The court imposed a 9 month conditional sentence and rejected a Crown request prohibit the grower from possessing hydroponic equipment.
Vancouver Provincial Court. October, 2010. Charge: Cultivation and possession of marijuana. The question was whether the police search warrant was valid. The grow operation had 250 plants. The police had to show that the grower had knowledge of and controlled the operation. The defense lawyer made his case to the Crown and they decided to stay the proceedings. No criminal record for the grower.
Provincial Court, Abbottsford. Fall, 2010. Charge: Possession and cultivation of marijuana. The grower possessed more than 1000 plants in a huge grow op. His lawyer negotiated a plea bargain that had his client admit to possession of only 63 clones. That equates to a guilty plea to possession of less than three kilos. Three month's conditional sentence, and no jail time.
Williams Lake BC. Mid- 2010. Offense: Production of marijuana and possession for the purposes of trafficking. The police busted a 5000+ plant operation. The crown wanted a two year sentence. The grower had confessed. The defense lawyer argued that his rights had been breached in obtaining the confession. He turned this into a plea bargain. The grower got a 12 month conditional sentence. No house arrest. No electronic monitoring. No probation.
This history of charges and the results is instructive. The courts are very lenient. Growers got their wrists slapped. Some escaped with no criminal record. It's obvious that British Columbia is soft on marijuana production and possession.
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