SEATTLE, WA. (NEWS 1130) – The City of Seattle is joining San Francisco and San Diego in clearing the records of people arrested for minor pot-related charges.
Marijuana was legalized in Washington state five years ago.
While Canada is still on its way to legalization, sometime later this year, activists on this side of the border are looking forward to the same thing happening here.
Not only would Dana Larsen with the Vancouver Dispensary Society likes pardons for people convicted of possessing pot, he’d like reparations for those who did time for the crime.
He’s proposing collecting pot-tax proceeds as redress for the offenders.
“A lot of Canadians, thousands and thousands, went to jail for six months or longer for simple possession of cannabis and I don’t think it’s too late to try to make it right to those people for the injustice that was done to them.”
And he adds injustice continues as having a criminal record inhibits job searches and can prevent someone from getting insurance and crossing the border.
Larsen, who was himself previously been arrested for pot-related offences, feels minorities are disproportionately penalized. “The people who are really victimized by cannabis prohibition are poor people, young people, First Nations people, people in rural communities… they are far more affected by this.”
Earlier this week, the provincial government announced how it would regulate pot once it’s legalized later this year.
Adults aged 19 years and older will be allowed to possess up to 30 grams of non-medical cannabis in a public place, which aligns with the federal government’s proposed possession limit for adults.
BC will generally allow adults to use non-medical cannabis in public spaces where tobacco smoking and vaping are permitted. However, smoking and vaping of non-medical cannabis will be banned in areas frequented by children, including community beaches, parks, and playgrounds. And the use of cannabis in any form will also be banned for all occupants in vehicles.
The federal government has said recreational pot will be legalized this year — it just hasn’t provided an exact date yet.
Will ‘low-level’ gang activity decline after pot legalization
With the legalization of pot, should we look forward to the end of Dial-a-Dope operations, and the violence that often accompanies ‘low-level’ gang activity?
SFU criminologist Rob Gordon says if what is happening in Washington state is anything to go by, dope dealers won’t disappear right away, because they’ll still serve a portion of the population.
“What may happen, and it’s one concern, is that there will be a continuation of the underground market. Consumers are going to circumvent the taxes put on retail pot to save some money.”
Gordon doesn’t see more people becoming casual growers and sellers of pot after legalization, because he feels people won’t bother.
And will dealers will switch to harder drugs to peddle?
Gordon says there’s no evidence of that happening elsewhere.
“There’s no indication in the states in the US where pot is legal. There are major consequences of going into harder drugs. There’s enough of that stuff coming in as it is anyways.”
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