Justice committee  No, because the traffic offence is concerned with weight. Unless the combined plants weigh more than three kilograms, there would be no minimum penalty, so there would be no minimum penalty. If it's one or two plants.... Since there is no standard average weight for a plant, you get plants of different sizes depending on circumstances and so on, and it's difficult to tell you--

Justice committee  That's correct.

Justice committee  We have to be clear here about what offence we're looking at. If we're looking at the production offence, if the crown or the prosecution can demonstrate that the one plant was being cultivated for the purpose of trafficking, then the minimum penalty will apply, but you have to be able to demonstrate that.

Justice committee  Yes, I follow you.

Justice committee  Could I interject?

Justice committee  In the example I have here, and having read the transcript, it seems that the offence we are talking about concerns a young person engaged in trafficking.

Justice committee  The problem is that giving a plant to someone is considered to be trafficking, under the definition of “trafficking”. And, if we are talking about trafficking, we are talking about quantities, volume and weight. Whether there is one plant or five plants, the important thing is that the weight be less than three kilos.

Justice committee  Yes, I do. We were talking about trafficking. We were talking about giving a plant to someone. When you give someone a plant, that is trafficking. However, if you are talking about an individual charged with producing or growing only one plant, there is no minimum sentence, because it is not for the purpose of trafficking.

Justice committee  Mr. Lemay, my colleague, Greg Yost, made me aware of your question. As I recall, you had asked whether an individual found trafficking one or two plants of marijuana would receive a minimum sentence. The answer is no, because he would be trafficking a quantity of marijuana that is less than three kilos, unless they are absolutely gigantic plants.

Justice committee  I have brought no studies concerning the effects or impact of minimum penalties as a deterrent, or any other type of impact. So I have nothing here on that. But I believe Monsieur Ménard's question was whether or not I was aware of such studies. I am aware of a number of studies on minimum penalties, but not—

Justice committee  The Department of Justice has undertaken some studies on minimum penalties, in 2002 perhaps, and one in 2006. That's the extent of the work I believe the department has undertaken in this area. There may be others, but I'm not aware of them.

Justice committee  Certainly. The concern about medical marijuana, I believe, is covered by Health Canada's medical marijuana access regulations, where individuals are given a permit to grow it either for themselves or for another individual. So it would appear to me that this particular issue is already covered by existing regulation and law.

Justice committee  Mr. Chairman, I believe Mr. Ménard's reading of this is absolutely correct. I have only just seen these amendments. As I understand them, they would eliminate all the current provisions relating to production in the bill. That would basically mean that the current provisions of the legislation would apply.

Justice committee  Thank you for the compliments, Mr. Ménard. The concept found in this provision is already in the legislation at the present time. Subparagraph 10.2(iii) already talks about places usually frequented by young people. As for potential legal considerations in that regard, in my opinion, the question has never come up.

Justice committee  Because there are places more usually frequented by young people—for example, shopping centres and parks. In some regions of the country, we know there is drug trafficking occurring. The idea was to target those activities in such places. In terms of the imprecision of the wording, it will be up to the judge to determine whether the place in question falls within the parameters of that provision.