Marcus Richardson is, in the eyes of the law, a criminal.
Never mind that a judge ruled the six kilograms of cannabis police found in his car was for severely ill patients at a medical marijuana dispensary.
Or that the same judge imposed only a minimum sentence because anything more would fail to maintain “a just, peaceful and safe society.”
He’s a criminal — and so are scores of other Canadians who face barriers to travel and work because they were caught with a drug that the government now intends to legalize.
“My charge wasn’t like, ‘He was practising civil disobedience at a place that was helping sick and dying people improve the quality of their last days on earth,”‘ Richardson said.
“If the charge read like that, I’d have no problem with it. It reads like, ‘I’m a marijuana trafficker.”‘
Laura Kane – CBC News – Dec 22, 2015.