Using medical marijuana now OK in public places in Ontario under new regulations | Toronto Star

THIS IS SURPRISING – involuntary second hand exposure to someone else’s medication is okay in Ontario.

The exemption includes everything from movie theatres to restaurants, offices, stadiums, playgrounds full of children and more – even the legislature said Dipika Damerla, Ontario’s associate health minister.

Source: Using medical marijuana now OK in public places in Ontario under new regulations | Toronto Star

IMMIGRATION STATUS CAN BE A SENTENCING FACTOR -Man’s immigration status wins him slightly shorter sentence | Toronto Star

Thank goodness Judges still have some discretion to craft fair sentences. “Under the Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act, non-citizens sentenced to terms six months or longer cannot appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division if a decision is made to deport them. Before the new law came into effect this year, that threshold was two years.”

A Toronto court credited a Vietnamese-Canadian permanent resident for time served and gave him a suspended sentence with probation.

Source: Man’s immigration status wins him slightly shorter sentence | Toronto Star

CHICAGO COP FACES MURDER CHARGE 

No wonder the police didn’t want to release this video. “Van Dyke shot McDonald 16 times, emptying his gun and preparing to reload. Van Dyke spent 13 seconds firing as McDonald lay motionless on the street. Van Dyke had already logged 18 civilian complaints for a variety of allegations, including claims of misconduct and excessive force. The city paid out more than $500,000 to settle the complaints.”

The city of Chicago tried to keep dash-cam footage of police officer Jason Van Dyke shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald sealed for more than a year.

Source: Graphic Footage Shows Chicago Cop Facing Murder Charge Spray Teen With Bullets | VICE News

WHY ARE POLICE STILL CHARGING FOR POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA? 

“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau directed his Minister of Justice in a public mandate to implement this goal by the end of his first term. If legalization is the inevitable and unanimous policy of the governing body, why is it illegal now? How can judges allow any marijuana charge to proceed in their court while the new government has clearly promised to legalize marijuana? All Crown attorneys should no longer lay any kind of marijuana charges since all of them will be adjourned or appealed once the government legalizes.”

If legalization is the inevitable and unanimous policy of the governing body, why is it illegal now?

Source: Marc Emery: In Canada, cannabis regulation is the new prohibition | Georgia Straight Vancouver’s News & Entertainment Weekly

FIXING WHAT HE BROKE – Harper’s ugly legacy of over-reaching legislation

“The Tories tried hard to tie judges’ hands by bringing in a slew of mandatory minimum sentences for crimes including those involving guns, drugs, and sex abuse. They also imposed a victim surcharge that criminals must pay, even if they have no money. And made it harder to get pardons.” And that’s just the area of criminal law.

Canadian law on Stephen Harper’s watch became heedless of civil rights, contemptuous of the judiciary, unreasonably punitive, and unfriendly to minorities and refugees.

Source: Trudeau must fix Harper’s ugly legacy of over-reaching legislation: Editorial | Toronto Star