Winnipegger Sentenced For Possession of 85 Grams of Cannabis a Month After Legalization, New Precedent

Article by Aidan Geary, CBC News

A Winnipeg man has been sentenced to 10 months in jail after he was found with 85 grams of cannabis last year, a month after the drug was legalized in Canada.

Rodney Clayton Felix, 31, pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession of cannabis for the purpose of distributing under the federal Cannabis Act.

Felix was found with 85 grams of the drug while in Portage Place mall in November 2018, after security was called because he broke a speaker at an electronics store when he was 15 cents short on a bill for $10.15.

He was also found with a folding knife, a scale, multiple cellphones and pot packaging materials including dime bags.

His defence lawyer, Scott Paler, told court he couldn’t find any reported sentences, anywhere in Canada, as precedent for the charge under the Cannabis Act since it came into effect on Oct. 17, 2018.

Before the act, which legalized cannabis in Canada, people suspected of trafficking cannabis were charged under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

Federal Crown attorney Alana Parashin recommended a 15-month sentence for Felix. Paler was seeking a financial penalty instead of jail time.

Read the full article here.