Update: Sheriffs to Undergo Pot Training

[Jim Finnel]

BC: Courthouse sheriffs will soon get a lesson on medicinal marijuana after a Kelowna pot smoker was detained for two hours.

Don Pio, 35, has a Health Canada card authorizing him to light up when he needs to.

Sheriffs detained him Friday after he walked into the courthouse smelling of weed - something the Ministry of Attorney General is working to correct.

"As a result of this situation, Court Services will advise all sheriffs across the province to contact Health Canada directly in future so we can avoid this happening again," said ministry spokesman David Townsend.

Pio smokes a joint every 40 minutes or so to control his shaking and vomitting - symptoms of a complex medical condition. He had a toke before he was to meet his girlfriend at the courthhouse Friday morning.

Sheriffs took him to the courthouse garage after probation staff complained they smelled marijuana on Pio's breath. He showed them his Health Canada card, but one of them said it was fake, he said.

When they had him empty his pockets, he pulled out a container holding a dozen joints - his daily medication, he said. They drove him to the RCMP detachment, where he vomitted and shook in a jail cell as police verified his marijuana card. An officer released him with his marijuana soon after.

"It is regrettable the individual was detained, but it was deemed to be necessary until it was confirmed who he was," said Townsend. "The individual had no other identification other than his Health Canada card."

Pio hasn't ruled out a lawsuit and plans to talk to his lawyer.

"It was hell. Absolute hell."

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Background article: Sheriff Stirs Pot Smoker


NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact: https://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/includes/email_forms/letters_to_editor.php
Website: Kelowna Daily Courier - Front Page -

 

[michaelkaer]

If it was me, I would sue. What other way are we going to get the message across that this is our medicine and the police have no right to do anything as soon as you show them the card. This is harassment. So what if a person smells of cannabis? You may object to the smell but maybe I don't like your perfume or aftershave? The big deal is we had a person who was doing what he did legally because he has gone through all the hoops and hassles to get the bloody card. That proves my point that ALL police in Canada must learn what the card looks like and how to promptly deal with a person medicating or in this case smelling of medicating, so this NEVER happens again. That is a human rights violation if I have ever seen one(and I have!)

 

[michaelkaer]

The other part that is a big challenge on the part of police in the near future is the lives they can easily ruin just by this single type of error. Everyone now knows this guy's face and name and he will now be a target for theft or robbery or just having a bunch of friends hanging around, wanting some of his stuff. I would sue for no other reason than that! It is a medical issue. The police MUST get that.