GUIDE TO PRIDE SHOW YOUR TRUE COLOURS THIS WEEK {pages 8-11}
SOFT-SPOKEN RYAN GOSLING CLAIMS HE’S NO PICKUP ARTIST {page 17}
VANCOUVER
Wednesday, July 27, 2011 www.metronews.ca News worth sharing.
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Cop who dealt pot apologizes Former Vancouver police officer to be sentenced Sept. 22 Hodson pleaded guilty to trafficking marijuana on the job METRO FILE
MATT KIELTYKA
@METRONEWS.CA
Dani Russo holds some buds at the Medicinal Cannabis Dispensary on Thurlow Street in Vancouver yesterday. PHYLICIA TORREVILLAS/FOR METRO
Weed reform lights up dissent The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is speaking out against the federal government’s proposed changes to the medical marijuana access program. The civil-rights group says healthcare providers other than doctors should be able to authorize the use of medical marijuana. Story, page 3.
Disgraced police officer Peter Hodson stood up in front of a provincial court judge yesterday and apologized to his family and former partners before placing his fate in the court’s hands. At the close of his sentencing hearing, Hodson — who pleaded guilty to trafficking marijuana and inappropriate use of the police database — was asked if he wanted to address the court. The 31-year-old former high school basketball star accepted the offer and read out a short statement he had prepared on his phone. “I would like to offer a sincere apology to my wife and children, who I have let down,” he said. “I would like to offer a sincere apology to the Vancouver Police
Peter Hodson
Department.... I take full responsibility for my actions and I regret the great impact they have had on the VPD and Downtown Eastside.” Estranged from his wife at the time, Hodson admitted to selling marijuana in the Downtown Eastside while on duty from January to June 2010.
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Crown prosecutors are seeking a three-and-a-half-year prison term for Hodson, while his defence has asked for a two-year conditional sentence — which would be carried out under house arrest — and three years of probation. His lawyer, Vincent Michaels, painted Hodson as a lifelong model citizen and loving family man who momentarily “lost his moral compass” after the breakdown of his marriage. Hodson, who was thrown off the police force the day of his arrest, has since pieced his life back together and is genuinely remorseful, according to Michaels. “The headline ‘drug-dealing cop’ can be a hard thing to get past,” Michaels said. “But it’s incomplete. This individual is much more, and in many ways this is a good man.” Hodson will return to court Sept. 22 for sentencing.
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