Pot users in Edmonton 420 rally protest possession charges

Cannabis advocatesgathered Thursday for their annual celebration of marijuana dubbed 420 on the grounds of the Alberta legislature, but the mood atthe courthouse where they metin downtown Edmonton leading up to the rally wasone of defiance.

Pro-legalizationrepresentativessay thepolice practice of charging users caught with small amounts of cannabis is a waste of time and resources now thatthe laws are setto change in a year.

"We're clogging our courtroom with something that's theoretically ... going to be legal in less than a year," said Donna Mackenzie, president of the United Cannabis Coalition."That seems absurd to me."

People caught with even a small amount of marijuana can be still be fined up to $1,000 or sentenced to up tosix months in jail for a first offence. Earlier this month, RCMP seized a single pot plant and some equipment from a home in Hanna, charging a 48-year-old woman with production and possession of marijuana.

"I think police have to show some greater discretion," Edmonton criminal defence lawyer Brian Beresh said prior to the rally.

"I know there are some who argue that would be turning your back on what is presently the law," he acknowledged. "But I think Canada has voted for change in this legislation, and I think the police should show greater discretion than they're showing.

"I think it's a waste of a valuable resource."

Edmonton lawyer Lance McClean agreed that prosecuting minorcases such as simple possession of marijuanafurther clogs an overtaxedjustice system.

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"I would suggest that probably in and amongst themselves, (they're) not a huge burden but when we're dealing with a court system that's overburdened as ours is, any reduction to the court docket is probably something that is beneficial."

In February,40 charges in 15 criminal cases were stayed because slim resources prevented the Crown from prosecuting in a timely manner, the Crown prosecutor's office said.

Bereshsaid he thinks the federal government should pardon people who've been charged withpossession in the past and are now strapped withcriminal records.

Thefederal Liberal governmentunveiled details of their plan for regulating marijuana last week.

Edmonton police maintainthey will continue to follow the current marijuana legislation until July 2018, when the new law isscheduled to go into effect.