Chief Jim Chu's call for ticketing marijuana users is just another tax grab

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      As Sensible B.C. volunteers begins collecting signatures as part of a landmark campaign to legalize marijuana possession, the Canadian Association of Police Chiefs has a different idea.

      Last month, its president, Chief Jim Chu of the Vancouver Police Department, called for ticketing people with small amounts of marijuana.

      It was presented as a progressive idea to prevent backlogs in the court.

      In reality, it would be another way for municipalities or the provincial government to ratchet up revenue by taxing pot users.

      The VPD is far less likely than other police agencies in getting the Crown to drag people into court for marijuana possession. But across the province, 3,580 people were charged with simple possession last year, according to Sensible B.C.

      That's an awful lot of people who will face future travel and employment restrictions for doing something that's probably less harmful to their health than drinking alcohol.

      The VPD under Chu's leadership has obviously concluded that it's not worth officers' time to testify in court. But if they could hand out tickets, say $300 per offence, imagine the amount of money that would flow in from that.

      The B.C. Liberal government has already created a traffic-fine revenue-sharing program with municipalities, giving local police forces an incentive to catch speeders.

      The cops would be equally eager to bust people for possession of marijuana if this fine revenue was also shared with local governments, which fund police departments.

      Sensible B.C.'s Dana Larsen is behind the provincewide initiative campaign to amend the Police Act to make it virtually impossible for people to be arrested for simple possession of marijuana.

      He has 90 days to collect signatures of 10 percent of registered voters in all 85 of B.C.'s provincial constituencies.

      If he and his supporters reach that goal and the chief electoral officer verifies the signatures, the bill will go to a legislative committee.

      Ultimately, Larsen is hoping that there will be an initiative vote, similar to what occurred with the harmonized sales tax, which will convince legislators to enact the Police Act amendment.

      It's clear that police chiefs are going in a different direction. Judging from their proposal to ticket marijuana users, they favour a new tax on people who smoke dope.

      Chu won't come right out and say he wants a tax increase instead of an end to busting people for possessing marijuana.

      But that's the way the debate has shifted in recent weeks.

      Governments, of course, will favour anything that results in more money coming in, so you can imagine how Finance Minister Mike de Jong might react to Chu's proposal.

      Pot users, on the other hand, might ask why they should have to cough up $300 every time a police officer finds them with a joint in their pocket.

      The Canadian Taxpayers Federation likes to present itself as the great defender of anyone stuck with an unfair tax.

      However, its oft-quoted B.C. spokesperson, Jordan Bateman, has been noticeably silent on this issue.

      If you have a problem with a new tax on marijuana users, there's an easy way to register your opposition: ensure you're a registered voter, contact Sensible B.C., and sign one of its petitions.

      If enough people decide to do this, it might prevent Chu's proposed tax grab from ever becoming a reality in B.C.

      Comments

      9 Comments

      jonathan frate

      Sep 9, 2013 at 7:49am

      Jimmy Chu makes over $300K/year as his base salary. It's no wonder he wants to get creative in generating revenue to keep screwing tax payers with his big salary.

      Patrick Smyth

      Sep 9, 2013 at 9:46am

      regulate it and tax it just like beer.

      dinosaurs

      Sep 9, 2013 at 10:47am

      still fighting extinction of their ridiculous ideology. booze and cigarettes cause more social and health harm. I don't even smoke pot and can't believe how foolish the old guard thinkers are.

      Jordan Bateman

      Sep 9, 2013 at 2:03pm

      Want to know what I think? Call me! #cantreadyourmind

      Dave

      Sep 9, 2013 at 2:48pm

      If they just leagalize it, they would get a whole lot more cash that now goes to the gangs, and then they can just sit in the donut shop and take it easy instead of handing out tickets, stoners are all peaceful and cause no problems.

      Michael

      Sep 9, 2013 at 3:37pm

      pretty clear from the get go that is what this is about. Same thing that loon graham demanding bikers bicycles be seized for resale by cops if you don;t have helmet.

      Pigs are trying to justify the unjustifiable: huge ever-expanding budgets to go after 'crimes' that harm no one but the individual.

      Send Chu and Graham to Saudi Arabia where their form of 'thinking' is accepted by the populace. Not here.

      yo

      Sep 9, 2013 at 4:05pm

      smoking pot with no helmet tho..
      or kneepads..

      more easy targets for porkey po po ..

      Tony Montana

      Sep 9, 2013 at 5:22pm

      I think they found out that some people work for a living and want drugs. Best place to hit them is with heavy fines and no jail time. Maybe inform their bosses of the fines as they might be delivery drivers working their jobs both ways.
      Next thing I would like to see is lifetime banishment from the province when/if they refuse to pay and expect jail time.

      G

      Sep 9, 2013 at 8:56pm

      The "Police Chief" is just another overpaid bureaucrat out to acquire more taxpayer money. The city dreams of having their police force bringing in a positive cash flow and expanding the list of of offenses that can be dealt with via a ticket & a fine will only increase. Perhaps the Mayor & Vision would like to form a volunteer "observers" program that would encourage citizens to ticket people smoking near a door, or biking on the sidewalk, or not recycling, or not composting or violating any of a number of bylaws, rules or regulations.

      Vision need to milk us for every penny because of the promises they made to their donors. Their fealty to their developer friends has cost the city millions with millions more to follow as they rezone seemingly at will and over the objections of local residents. Their array of "neighborhood plans" aren't worth the webspace they occupy as Vision have shown they are willing to ignore their own plans when a developer can make more money.

      How does the police chief get paid only a few thousand dollars less than the prime minister? How does he get paid more than our highest ranking officer in the Armed Forces? The pay scale of bureaucrats is completely out of whack and needs to be addressed by people without a vested interest in the ever higher rates of bureaucratic remuneration.