Niagara Police Smell Marijuana While Trailing Truck; Canada Policy on 'War on Drugs' Ambivalent
Freshly Cut Marijuana Caught but Canada in Dispute Over Use of Marijuana
A police officer from Niagara, Canada driving behind a trailer sniffed out an odd smell ahead of him. And it wasn't just exhaust fumes.
On Monday morning, 2 a.m. local time, the police officer pulled the truck over to check what was causing the odour.
The rental truck contained $1 million worth of marijuana plants. The plants totalled 105 kg and were freshly cut, reported the Hamilton Spectator.
Guo Ding Lin, 36, a Toronto resident was booked for trafficking and one count of possession.
He was stopped outside an urban area and his bail was decided in St. Catherines Monday.
In May, Niagara police found marijuana worth millions dollars at a location in the midst of two residences in Lincoln and St. Catherines.
Rich Gadreau, Niagara police media relations personnel, noted that Lin's arrest was unique in that the marijuana was found while transporting it from one location to another.
In another incident west of Winnipeg, police seized 176 kilograms of marijuana from a trailer moving along Trans-Canada Highway.
The police check was made at the Headingley weigh scales after police officers smelled pot in the trailer's cab.
Canada's position on the war on drugs or the use of marijuana is not clear and is under dispute, although courts in Ontario have said that cannabis laws are not enforced. The United States of America claims the highest cost on the war on drugs
At the federal level, the articles from Canada and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act pointing to criminalization of marijuana possession have not been deleted.
Apart from Ontario, police and prosecutors still pursue marijuana possession, according to reports. Hemp (Cannibas saliva) production is legal in Canada under the classification of seed, fibre and grain.
Since 2003, Canadians have not agreed on the marijuana issue, but majority seemed to support the statement, "The use of marijuana should be decriminalized," according to several 2003 polls. A recent poll in 2012 conducted by Angus Reid noted that 57% of respondents favoured legalization.
In Australia, cannabis is widely used by one-third of all Australians - approximately 5.8 million. The indigenous population in Australia have a higher incidence of us. Though the drug is illegal in Australia, it is widely acceptable at the rate of 20-35 Australian dollars per kilogram.
In the United States of America, marijuana is prevalent but the war on drugs and the institutions that support it are also looking to make money. In a rare research presentation, Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN recently released a finding about the medical usefulness of cannabis.
The medical properties lock on t o neurotransmitters in the human body. A boy with seizures treated with marijuana was found to improve on the drug. Patients from war torn regions who get alarmed and develop panic attacks also do well on therapy that includes marijuana. It essentially helps to unlearn painful memories that are no longer necessary to function, said Dr. Gupta in a Reuters report.