The Liberal government is looking at the possibility of amnesty for people with pot possession convictions once marijuana is legalized, according to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.
“We’re weighing all of the legal implications to make sure that we fully understand all the dimensions of this and, when we’re in a position to make an announcement, we will do so,” Goodale told reporters during the Liberal cabinet retreat in London, Ont. Friday.
Goodale wouldn’t give a timeframe for any decision on amnesty, nor would he say what legal implications are being considered. “I think the responsible thing is to do the analysis, see where the unfairnesses are and take the appropriate steps to correct those problems,” he said. “But you need to do it in an orderly way.”
In 2016 alone, 17,733 people were charged with possession of cannabis, down 3,600 from the year before, according to Statistics Canada. More than half of the 95,400 drug offences that year were cannabis-related, and the majority of those were possession offences.
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