Hal 9000

I know you really want to find a way of being right, and make it ok for Justin, but it's not right. Being cleared is not a criminal record, you will not be refused at the border and you will not be refused a job. It is not a criminal record as Justin suggests.

I think I'm still reading that 49,000 of 57,000 got cleared. That means just 8000 went to court and of that 8k, only 44% (probably less due to minors) were found guilty. That's like 3500 over that year. Still a far cry from the 475,000 since 2006 that Trudeau claims. I'm on my phone, so I can't seethe chart right now, but I'd wager that fewer than 25k got convicted of marijuana since Harper took office. Checked the math quickly - looks like about 29,000 guilty verdicts since 2006. See how easy it is to track down information, I wonder why Justin got it so wrong.

A scientific experiment will do no good. You can debunk all the feminist theories from the $0.77 argument to spousal abuse, rape, death rates and court rulings etc.etc. and people will turn a blind eye. Probably you too. All one can do is listen to the arguments put forth and use life experience, common sense and critical thinking to see what should be painfully obvious. For someone to voice it in public, would be career suicide, just youtube any of the feminism debunking videos.

Well, I've given Trudeau's quote and I've also (with the help of OGFT) provided Statscan info and they don't match, you can draw your own conclusions. Maybe he's not lying, maybe he's just not good at math and stuff. I'd say he knows what he's saying, but also knows that the truth won't matter to victims of the police state Harper government. "What matters now, Trudeau said, is ending a marijuana prohibition policy that he says costs law enforcement $500 million a year and has left 475,000 people with criminal records since the Conservatives took office in 2006."

The point that I keep making is that legalizing marijuana is a wedge issue. Trudeau is taking small groups from both the NDP and Cons, but really needs to get the smokers mobilized if he is to win. Sure, he'll lie and skew the stats to ensure that pot smokers feel victimized enough to vote for him - that's the game.

Just as a PS - after the 80% or so are cleared by police and the department. The ones that go to court get off about 55% of the time and of that 44% found guilty only about 16% ever see the inside of a jail - at an average of about 14 days, usually served over weekends or when a person can get off work.

You obviously read the Statscan site, did you make it this far? Most drug-related offences solved by police; departmental discretion more common for cannabis possessionOf all police-reported drug-related offences in 2013, more than three-quarters (78%) were cleared, or solved, by police. In contrast, 41% of Criminal Code incidents (excluding traffic) reported to police in 2013 were solved. The comparatively high clearance rate was driven by possession offences, as 85% of such offences were solved by police. Possession offences typically involve the presence of drugs on a person and as such are more likely to be cleared than other types of offences. In contrast, 67% of trafficking offences, 50% of offences involving import or export, and 36% of production offences were solved by police. When looking at the type of drug, offences involving methamphetamines (83%) or heroin (83%) were most likely to be solved by police, while those involving other controlled drugs and substances (70%) or cocaine (73%) had the lowest clearance rates. The Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey also allows for more detailed information on the clearance status of police-reported offences. In general, drug-related offences are more likely than crime in general to be cleared through departmental discretion (26% compared to 8%). More than four in ten (41%) of all cleared cannabis offences were cleared through departmental discretion, while 17% of all other cleared drug offences were cleared by discretion. When looking at possession offences, 45% of cannabis and 24% of other drug types were cleared through departmental discretion. British Columbia, which reported the highest rate of drug-related offences in 2013, also reported the highest proportion of offences cleared by departmental discretion (i.e., by giving a warning, caution, or referral to a community-based program rather than laying a charge). Almost half (47%) of drug-relatedincidents in British Columbia were cleared through these means, of which the large majority (94%) were related to possession. Now, Ive got nothing against weed - legalize...don't legalize - I couldn't give a shit and I've got nothing against Trudeau, in fact, if it looks like it's between him and Mulcair, I have no qualms voting Liberal. But, what we're seeing here is not a crisis or epidemic, we don't live in a police state and "the man" isn't coming to jail all dope smokers. If you went to jail or got a record for weed possession, chance are, like the CPA president said, you did something much worse (impaired, dealing, assault etc) than possession, but the police couldn't make the other charge stick. The Liberals got shit kicked last time out and know they need to grab a definite demographic if they are going to compete, NDP has Unions and single moms, conservatives have those tough on crime and religious folk. The Liberals know the pot smokers are a big group and are simply manipulating that group with hyperbole and crisis talk to gain votes - isn't it obvious. If someone wants to vote Liberal, good on 'em, but to do it based simply on a platform like legalizing marijuana truly stupid. If Trudeau can prove (like he has stated) that a half million Canadians have been given criminal records for possession in the last 9 years, I'll apologize and take it all back.

Trudeau was quoted Aug. 23 saying the government's pot prohibition policy had "left 475,000 people with criminal records since the Conservatives took office in 2006." Statistics Canada reports the number of all criminal incidents reported by police for possession, production, trafficking and/or distribution of marijuana at just under 480,000 since 2006. A reported incident does not mean an arrest has been made, a charge laid or a conviction earned. Trudeau's press secretary initially described his errors as a "slip of the tongue." Tuesday, Trudeau appeared to double down on his figures, attributing that 475,000 as the number of pot-related arrests. Statistics Canada does not keep records of the number of arrests, and Trudeau gave no indication where he got his statistic. So, let's say 48,000 Incidents per year. If we also agree that 70% of those are for possession - that gives us 35,000 "incidents". Given that the very large majority of those are never even officially recorded brings that number of arrests way way down. Given what the president of the CPA says about marijuana charges going to trial are very rare, it stands to reason that it's a very minuscule amount of people who end up with a record - and as he said it's usually a plea bargain down from a more serious charge.

If a guy is selling to kids and you can't prove he is selling, you might be able to at least charge that dude with possession. That's what the president of the CPA is saying. I have said i'm all for decriminalization and even possible legalization - all i'm arguing is that it's not the epidemic or crisis that you people are making it out to be. You're being manipulated by politicians throwing out a wedge issue - plain and simple.

2013 - "The Prime Minister also pledged to “look carefully” at the position of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) that officers should have the option to ticket, rather than arrest, people nabbed for simple possession under 30 grams. Mr. Harper’s statement, too, is groundbreaking."

Example - Cops show up at a skate park and kids are smoking weed in front of small children - they confiscate the weed. That equals one incident per kid that they confiscate weed from - It's a reportable incident(s) - cop writes in his notebook, mentions it in his daily log and thats that - No names, no charges, no big deal. Just like when they see that same group with a couple beer - dump it out and write it in their little book - "incident". If it's just a single joint, chances are that the cops will throw it down and grind it into the pavement. Guys, our cops don't really care the way you think they do. Seriously, I couldn't give a shit one way or another - mainly because I know for a fact that our quality of life will not change one way or another.

In this day and age - even under the Harper government, you have to be a first rate fuck-up to get charged, convicted and end up with a criminal record for possession. If you do the simple math of how many people smoke pot in Canada and how many people end up with records for possession, common sense will tell smart people (maybe not you), that the police, politicians and courts don't really care about weed possesion as much as the hysteria would indicate. As for you question about why it's still on the books, you can look no further than the above quote from president of the CPA.

Holy Fuck, it's not 59,000 being charged. It's 59,000 "INCIDENTS" - Do you know what the word incident means? Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, can't remember ever charging someone with pot possession or showing up at court for a possession charge. "Before police would charge someone (with possession), there would have to be some other aggravating factor," he said. Stamatakis said, in most cases, possession charges are often the result of more serious charges being downgraded through plea bargaining. "For a (marijuana possession charge) to make its way to a full-blown trial is fairly rare."

But it's not 59,000 arrests and it's certainly not 59,000 people getting criminal records, that's the point.

I also think it's important to recognize the word "incidents". You people - and most of the yellow articles you're citing are exchanging the word incidents with "charges" or "arrests". This is disingenuous. An incident could be a fine, it could also be a simple confiscation. Factor in the arrests that get thrown out or guilty with no record and the numbers of people with records suddenly become very minuscule.

It is what it is, i'm not making it up. I also think helmet laws should be dropped, but i'm not dumb enough to vote for someone based on that. You see, conservative politicians know some of their constituents don't agree with legalizing weed, so the issue can be summed up by "keep it out of our face and we'll let it slide". I know many many people who smoke weed and have every day for years, and although some, a lot in fact have been caught or seen smoking weed by police, none have ever been charged.

That's what makes it a wedge issue. Now you're getting it.

Marijuana should be at least decriminalized, maybe even legalized - I agree! But out of the 0.1% of the population that ever gets charged, I can guarantee the the larger percentage of those end up thrown out, fined and given no record at all. If you're charged with possession, its bound to have extenuating circumstances attached. Sure it's a law, but so is trespassing and jaywalking. As I said, it's a wedge issue. It's one issue that the NDP and Liberals can use to guarantee a certain amount of votes. They want to mobilize those people who show up at parliament on April 20 and smoke weed. People who care or know nothing else than "how cool it would be to legally smoke weed in the street". I think voting in a government based on this issue is extremely irresponsible - but that's kids today.

And how many went to jail? The fact that you are obviously outraged enough just proves my point. That's what a wedge issue is; Political parties take a menial issue like this and prop it up in hopes that weak minded individuals will forget about economy, taxes, crime, job creation etc etc. and focus on something so utterly ridiculous like marijuana and vote for them.

People don't go to jail for marijuana possession, not even with Harper as PM. Legalizing dope is a wedge issue, the only reason for it is to sway a few voters in the direction of the Libs or NDP, otherwise no one cares - not even the conservatives.

So... young and uneducated females are going to be the deciding factor in the election! Why am I not surprised?

I think you've completely missed the point.^^

You should get therapy for your illness.

What's your point? Are you agreeing or not?

The medical condition must cause “endless suffering” that is intolerable to the person, although that suffering can be physical or psychological. Stay tuned!