As the summer wraps up and your children return from camp, this is a good time to let you know that next summer, when your child is 18, you won’t have to pay to send them anywhere. This is because the Harper Government is going to send your kids to jail. Here’s how it works:
On November 8, 2012, the Harper Government’s new minimum sentencing provisions for drug offences come into force. So if a person is caught and convicted of a drug offence from that date onward, they will face minimum punishment under the new law. What is the punishment?
If a person is convicted of trafficking marihuana in an area usually frequented by persons under the age of 18, they will be sentenced to a minimum of 2 years in jail. Places not usually frequented by persons under the age of 18 are bars, brothels and perhaps universities and colleges. Anywhere else can generally fall into this definition. If someone involved in the transaction was under the age of 18, even if it’s not in an area usually frequented by persons under the age of 18, the offender will be sentenced to a minimum of 2 years in jail.
How will this land your children in jail? In British Columbia marihuana is a recreational drug used by a significant portion of the population. Many people have it in their possession, and almost always it was sold to them. And many people share it. Sharing marihuana is trafficking. Giving it to a friend is trafficking. Passing a joint to your buddy is trafficking in marihuana.
If you have an 18-year old at home, it’s more likely than not that from time to time they smoke a little weed. Hell, you did it when you were young. Why would you expect your kids to be any different? Your kids probably hang out with friends who are a little older and a little younger. And they do things in public places where other young people hang out. Like the monster truck show at BCPlace that takes place early in the new year.
At events such as this your teenagers are up in the nosebleed seats typically smoking joints and generally having a good time. And when your 18-year old daughter passes a joint to her 17-year old friend to hand it to the 19-year old sitting two seats over, she has just brought herself under the new sentencing provisions in Harper’s legislation. If convicted, your daughter will get two years in jail because that’s the minimum for trafficking marihuana in a place usually frequented by persons under the age of 18. And if they can’t prove that the location is usually frequented, at least they can prove that she involved a person in the transaction who was under the age of 18. Either way, two year behind bars for your little girl. Minimum.
Giving and sharing marihuana is trafficking. Persons under the age of 18 frequently attend public spaces all over the place. It’s very common for kids to pass around a joint.
Harper wants to send your kids to jail. For you and your child and your family, it will be a nightmare. For lawyers, it will be more work.
Under the new law there is simply no reason to ever plead guilty to such an offence. No more will your lawyer be able to make some quick and cheap plea agreement to save your child from excessive punishment. When people without a criminal past are facing jail for the first time, they will invest everything to avoid a conviction. Which means lawyers will challenge every bit of evidence, develop new and more daring defences, expand on defences that are rarely used, and force the Government to prove every aspect of the case.
If you cut to the bottom line, it will be costly for families to try and keep their kids out of jail and for the Government to prosecute the cases. This has been the main criticism of the legislation by the opposition parties. But the bottom line isn’t as important to most of us as the fact that the Harper Government wants to send your kids to jail. And to try and keep them from going to jail, you will need to hire a criminal defence lawyer.
If you’ve got a drug charge, give us a call. We’ve defended possession and trafficking charges for over a decade and to date we’ve kept all of our clients out of jail. If you have a drug charge, better call us.