By Chad Klassen

Kamloops lawyer says pardons for cannabis-related offenses aren’t enough

Oct 19, 2018 | 3:57 PM

KAMLOOPS — Now that recreational cannabis is legal across the country, the federal government says it will expedite the processing of pardons for the estimated 500,000 Canadians who have criminal records for pot possession. 

Kamloops lawyer Shawn Buckley, who represents medical marijuana users, would go further, saying pardons don’t accomplish much. 

“Pardon is likely not going to solve things for people,” he noted. “A pardon a conviction off your criminal record, but you still have your police record and you’ll still likely a part of your criminal record that will show you’ve been pardoned for that offense.”

Buckley says a pardon would still mean people run into issues at the border. He’s calling for expungement, which would clear anyone’s criminal and police records that wouldn’t be on their file any longer. 

“What I would do is pass a blanket law calling for expungement, so basically removing all the police records, not just our criminal record but all of our police records,” said Buckley. “Any information dealing with simple possession, whether there’s a conviction or not.”

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Buckley wants those with records over marijuana possession to be set free. 

“I think there’s about a half a million Canadians that have records for simple possession. Why should these people, in effect, continue to be punished for something we don’t view as morally wrong anymore?”

But simple possession expungment is where Buckley draws the line. 

“So things like trafficking and cultivation, they’re still offenses. From a public policy perspective, we’re not going to see people have records expunged for things we still say are wrong.”