Eric Nash and Wendy Little - Canada's Marijuana Experts Bringing over ten years of qualified expertise to your court case Possession of Drugs for the Purpose of Trafficking

The quantity of drugs found by the police forms the basis upon which the Crown will rely when trying to prove the charge of possession for the purpose of trafficking. Typically, if you’re in possession of a very small amount of a drug, it often is assumed that it is for personal use. A larger quantity makes it easier to prove a charge of possession for the purpose of trafficking because it’s difficult for somebody to prove that a large quantity of drugs was for personal use.

For example, if a person consumes 5 grams of marijuana per day, and they are in possession of 45 pounds of marijuana, it would be difficult for a judge to believe that they can consume such a quantity on their own. The next step for the Crown would ask the judge to infer that, since they can’t consume it on their own, then the possession of that amount is for the purpose of trafficking. This means to distribute or sell it to somebody else.

Another indicator of possession for the purpose of trafficking would be presence of scales used for weighing the drug before selling it. However, there are many variables in each case. With additional information that can be presented to the courts, the outcome can change significantly, for instance, if the use of marijuana is for legitimate medical purposes.

In context of a drug charge, trafficking includes giving a controlled drug or substance to anyone else. It does not require an exchange of money. There have been cases where individuals have been charged with trafficking in marijuana for passing a pipe to others to share.

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