By Ian Holmes

Malcolmson hammers liberals over pot decriminalization delay

Jun 20, 2016 | 3:27 PM

Nanaimo-Ladysmith New Democrat MP Sheila Malcolmson slammed the Federal Government for refusing to decriminalize marijuana.

Malcolmson stood in the House of Commons this week, outlining numerous reasons why decriminalizing pot makes sense since the government already plans to legalize it.

“The government spends $3 to $4 million annually prosecuting simple possession cases. New Democrats believes it’s irresponsible to allow police and court resources to be wasted this way, creating new criminal records for something that the government imminently plans to legalize,” said Malcolmson.

Malcolmson said that according to Statistics Canada, there were nearly 60,000 marijuana possession charges in 2014.

“The justice department has confirmed it will cost taxpayers as much as $4 million a year. In 2014, there were almost 60,000 marijuana possession charges, and Stats Can says that is almost 3 percent of all arrests in our country.”

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A motion brought forward by NDP Justice Critic and Victoria MP Murray Rankin to decriminalize pot was rejected by the government.

The Trudeau Liberals plan to introduce legislation next spring to legalize, regulate and restrict marijuana.