What Happens if You Get Caught Growing Marijuana?
How serious is possession and cultivation of marijuana in BC? The internet makes it easy to find out exactly what happens if you get caught. Read these results and compare the to the US.
Provincial Courthouse, North Van. June, 2011. Offense: Possession of Marijuana. The defense lawyer had to have the court decide if criminal charges were in the public interest. The court decided to proceed with an alternative measures program involving a course. On completion of the course the charges were dropped. There was no criminal record as a result.
Nanaimo Provincial Court. Spring 2011. Offense: Cultivation and possession plus an application to return seized money. $2000 seized by police from the defendant was alleged to be proceeds of crime. The defense argued that this was wrong and had the court return the funds to his client.
Nanaimo Provincial Court. Early 2011. Offense: Possession of more than three kilos of pot and cultivation of pot. The police argued that the grower had about 200 plants, which is over 3 kilograms. The grower's lawyer got the Crown to change the charge to possession of less than 3 kilograms. The court imposed a 9 month conditional sentence and rejected a Crown request prohibit the grower from possessing hydroponic equipment.
Vancouver Provincial Court. October, 2010. Charge: Cultivation and possession of marijuana. The question was whether the police search warrant was valid. The grow operation had 250 plants. The police had to show that the grower had knowledge of and controlled the operation. The defense lawyer made his case to the Crown and they decided to stay the proceedings. No criminal record for the grower.
Abbottsford. Fall 2010. Offense: Cultivation and production of Cannabis. The police busted a grow op with more than 1000 plants. The lawyer negotiated it down to possession of 63 clones. There were lengthy negotiations with the crown, but in the end the grower got a conditional sentence for less than three kilos. He got no jail time.
Supreme Court, Williams Lake. May, 2010. Charge: Possession and production purpose of trafficking marijuana. Offence: The grower was caught by police with a 5000 plant plus grow operation. The grower's lawyer made the case that the police breached the grower's rights when they got him to confess. The defense lawyer went to court and argued his way to a plea bargain. Crown had wanted a sentence of two years, but it was dropped to a 12 month conditional sentence without house arrest, no electronic monitoring and no probation.
This history of charges and the results is instructive. The courts are very lenient. Growers got their wrists slapped. Some escaped with no criminal record. It's obvious that British Columbia is soft on marijuana production and possession.
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