Edward Prutschi Discusses Toronto Police Officers and Marijuana

BORIS BYTENSKY
October 9, 2018
6:30 pm

Marijuana is set to be legal in Toronto on October 17th. A newly released report by Toronto City Police Chief outlined how they will handle who consume recreational marijuana. It states that officers cannot have any signs of marijuana in their systems, which takes 28 days to clear – meaning that officers are effectively banned from consuming the soon to be legal substance.

Toronto criminal lawyer Ed Prutschi spoke with Jerry Agar on NewsTalk 1010 to discuss this hot topic and says that this news isn’t alarming. Police are routinely punished for actions they take off duty. Prutschi states this instead highlights a flaw in the testing. If the test cannot tell if someone is currently high versus if they consumed pot weeks ago, how will the test be effective if someone is pulled over for suspicion of driving under the influence?

Prutschi emphasizes the need for more research. He also wonders how the police department handles officers that use medical marijuana. There are many questions still yet to be answered around how the legalization of marijuana will play out in daily life.

BORIS BYTENSKY

I am one of the senior partners at Bytensky Shikhman, a criminal litigation firm in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In my 25+ year career, I have conducted numerous trials and appeals before all levels of Court in Ontario, defending just about every type of charge in our criminal law. I am also an Adjunct Professor of Trial Advocacy at Osgoode Hall Law School and currently the Treasurer of the Criminal Lawyers' Association of Ontario. I am also an Adjunct Professor for Trial Advocacy at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University and a regular lecturer and placement supervisor for Osgoode's Intensive Programme in Criminal Law.