The ReeveLaw Blog

“In terms of social drug policy, the “results confirm that the risk of cannabis may have been overestimated in the past,” the researchers said in the report, which was funded by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Program and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.”

Cannabis was also found to be the drug least likely to kill you of all 10 commonly used substances analyzed in the study published recently in Scientific Reports journal.

Source: New Research Suggests Pot Is the Least Deadly Recreational Drug | VICE News

“Two years ago, 30 armed tactical officers woke Dawson in his home, put him face down and cuffed him while aiming guns at his head. “They had assault rifles pointed at my pregnant wife,” Dawson said. “It was terrifying.” Since then he’s spent thousands in legal fees.” The court process took 2 years, he plead guilty and was fined $10. Yes…ten dollars. Apparently once again Harper’s mandatory minimum sentence of jail was seen to be unconstitutional – and for good reason.

NEWMARKET — A huge undercover police sting that saw a medical pot-grower dragged through the courts for two years ended with a grand slam in court Thursday — a $10 fine.

Source: Grow-op sting, lengthy court case ends with whopping $10 fine | Toronto & GTA |

Yes I know it’s BuzzFeed but it’s true, domestic violence and abuse is not a “gender specific offence” as some would have us believe. Men suffer from it at the hands of women in silence and shame.

“My ex-girlfriend was physically and mentally abusive, whenever I told someone they told me to man up and get over it, I never felt so alone.”

Source: 19 Heartbreaking Confessions From Men Suffering From Emotional Abuse

It seems so obvious and humane.

A report from the John Howard Society says many people with mental illness become caught in the criminal justice system for lack of community support and programming.

Source: Criminal justice system no place for mentally ill, John Howard Society says – Sudbury – CBC News

When the facts and evidence don’t fit your ideology, ignore it. The Conservative Bill C-14 gets “tough” on the mentally ill. “The numbers of mentally ill individuals in the criminal justice system is on the rise. Harsher treatment of NCR offenders designated as “high risk” is likely to encourage defence lawyers to ensure their mentally ill clients are prosecuted under regular justice system rules, where they receive no court-ordered treatment and can be back on the streets sooner. The effect could therefore be to undermine public safety rather than enhance it.”

A law enacted last year allows courts to impose harsher terms on mentally ill offenders declared not criminally responsible and was sold as a measure that would improve public safety. But an unpublished Justice Department report says the legislation could have the opposite effect.

Source: Unpublished Justice Department study critical of not criminally responsible law – Politics – CBC News

How quickly policies, once enacted, change. Harper’s new power to strip Canadians of citizenship and deport them now also applies to native born citizens for the first time in Canadian history. “But in a strange way, the Conservatives are equal-opportunity revokers. The Gaya case demonstrates that when the government is determined to banish those it considers miscreants, it will simply call them dual nationals — whether they are or not. Under its new law, the Conservative government does not have to prove Gaya is the citizen of another country. He has to prove to Immigration Minister Chris Alexander that he is not.” Note that Justice Durno did not consider this guy to be an irredeemable villain.

Saad Gaya was born in Montreal and holds no other passport. The government plans to exile him anyway.

Source: Conservatives move to revoke citizenship from home-grown Canadian: Walkom | Toronto Star

The Supreme Court of Canada has stuck “a balance between a Muslim woman’s desire to testify wearing a veil and her accused molester’s right to see her face in a fair trial. The ruling should force the Conservative federal government to reverse its requirement for women in niqab to remove the face-veil when taking the ceremonial oath of citizenship.”

The Supreme Court of Canada tried to strike a balance between a Muslim woman’s desire to testify wearing a veil and her accused molesters’ right to see her face in a fair trial.

Source: Supreme Court niqab ruling: Veil can be worn to testify in some cases | Toronto Star

Inequities are the result of getting “tough on crime” without proper safeguards. For those of you that harbour the attitude that you have nothing to worry about because you haven’t done anything wrong, you better read this. The government’s “us vs. them” approach to criminal law turns all of us into “them” and causes the police to view all of us as the enemy. “The roughly $5,000 in fees and charges it costs most drivers is little compared to the often expensive collateral consequences, such as loss of a job, that can result from an IRP.”

Five-years after Victoria introduced the nation’s toughest anti-drunk-driving laws, the controversy over the inequities of instant curbside justice continues. Documents obtained from a freedom of information request show numerous B.C. motorists have been wrongly handed stiff Immediate Roadside Prohibitions for impaired driving as a result of improperly calibrated screening devices.

Source: Ian Mulgrew: B.C. drunk-driving law looks flimsier than ever

We often don’t consider how far ranging the effects of such tragedies are on secondary victims. It’s something to think about.

A top paramedic says the fatal crash that claimed the lives of three children and their grandfather north of Toronto has had an unprecedented impact on the well being of first responders.

Source: Paramedics suffer PTSD after crash that killed kids, grandfather: EMS | CTV Toronto News

BLASPHEMY – Section 296 of the Criminal Code makes it a criminal offence to publish a blasphemous libel. It does not define “publish” and it does not define “blasphemy”. Do we even know what blasphemy is? How is this consistent with religious freedom? Why do we even have this law?

By Derek James From It’s been 10 years since the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published the now notorious cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The cartoons were republished by newspapers around the world and more than 200 people died as protests and riots erupted in response. Prime Minister Stephen Harper responded, saying he regretted that Canadian newspapers had…

Source: Opinion: The hypocrisy of Canada’s anti-blasphemy law | Calgary Herald