Winnipeg police issue a ticket for consuming pot in a car just about an hour after legalization

(October 18) Yesterday at around one AM just an hour after use of recreational marijuana was legalized in Canada, during a traffic stop, Winnipeg police issued a ticket for consuming marijuana in a vehicle.

You cant smoke pot in a car

Consuming cannnabis in a car is a specific offence under the Highway Traffic Act. Inspector Gord Spado said: "An hour into legality and something illegal." It is not clear if the offender was the person driving at the time. Consumption of alcohol in a vehicle is also illegal.

Spado said that the cannabis was likely not purchased legally. Although online sales started at 12:01 AM they weren't being delivered yet at 1 AM. However, no ticket was issued for that.

Spado said: "It doesn't look like anything was pursued as far as the illicit component of it goes. I think that's just the education piece of our members, knowing where to go with that. It's still new to us, too, right, so we're still learning."

Spado said it would be difficult to determine if marijuana has been purchased illegally. Another challenge will be ticketing people for consuming cannabis edibles in a vehicle. He notes that if someone has an edible in a car and we can prove it that is an offence. On some occasions Spado notes they can but in others they cannot. Right now the edibles are not legally on sale. When the edibles are legal it may be easier to prove consumption in a vehicle through the presence of packaging that may be visible.

There are hefty fines for offences

The fine for smoking pot in a car was $672 dollars. There is the same fine for consuming cannabis in or on an off-road vehicle. Other fines are even higher.

Supplying marijuana to someone under age 19 or growing non-medical pot in a residence in Manitoba carries a fine of $2,542.

Other fines of $672 are for smoking or vaping cannabis in a provincial parks or doing so in a public place.

There is a $237 fine for carrying marijuana in or on a vehicle including an off-road vehicle. However, there can be marijuana in the trunk of a car.

Where can you buy marijuana?

Where you can buy pot and who can sell it varies from province to province. Manitoba has a hybrid public/private model. The Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corporation will buy cannabis from licensed producers and deliver it, or arrange for delivery to approved privately operated marijuana stores. Details of the arrangements can be found here.

Many stores have yet to be opened.

Previously published in Digital Journal

Drivers complain of being fined for cell phone use when not using them

Two different drivers in Winnipeg Manitoba complain that they received tickets for driving while using their cell phones when they were not using them. It is illegal to drive while using your cell phone in Manitoba.

One driver Laszlo Piszker were pulled over by two police officers in Winnipeg. Piszker told the officers to search the car for a cell phone. He claims that he does not even have a cell phone.

The officers issued him a ticket for $199.80 anyway. He says that the officers were nasty both to him and his wife. The 74 year old claims to be so technically challenged he could not use a cell phone even if he had one.

The couple immediately went to a nearby police station to complain. He said the officer laughed. The officer suggested that the officers must have been trying to fill a quota. A two hundred dollar ticket is hardly a laughing matter.

The couple will fight the ticket in court. I would not be surprised if the officers fail to show and the ticket will be thrown out.

Another Winnipeg motorist Jody Nelson also reported receiving a ticket for using his cell phone while driving. He said that he was not using it at the time. The officer provided him with no explanation claims Nelson and would not give his badge number either.

Nelson said he would fight his 200 fine in court as well. He plans to get records from his cell phone provider that will show he was not using his cell phone at the time.

It sounds as if some tickets are being issued just to generate revenue and with the hope that most people will not bother to challenge the tickets. For more see this CBC article.

UPDATE: Winnipeg police have disputed Piszker and his wife's account of events. The police claim they followed the two for several blocks after seeing Piszker the driver hold a cell phone to his ear while driving.
 Piszker claims not to own a cell phone or use one. Meanwhile the police union said that the emphasis upon issuing tickets for cell phone violations was hurting relations between police and the public. See this article for more.