i agree that the existing court precedent is absurd on it's face, but it's based on the idea that drug use is a personal choice and doesn't affect anybody. if that were true, nobody would have any legitimate grounds to be upset by drug use - it would be something that people put in their own bodies at their own harm, and nobody else's concern.
that's been the argument drug addicts have used for decades, and it's been fairly successful. but it's not true. drug use has all kinds of collateral and incidental effects and produces all kinds of externalities.
- trespassing
- garbage
- rats
- theft
- air pollution
- discarded needles
- etc
while some of these are civil issues, drug users generally don't have much in terms of assets.
i think the solution is to address the false assumption - that drug use doesn't harm others - and focus on the things you can get them on. i promise you that you can find another reason to arrest somebody, other than the drugs, in almost any scenario cited.
i think they should be charged with public nuisance on a regular basis:
180 (1) Every person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years or is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction who commits a common nuisance and by doing so
(a) endangers the lives, safety or health of the public, or
(b) causes physical injury to any person.
Definition
(2) For the purposes of this section, every one commits a common nuisance who does an unlawful act or fails to discharge a legal duty and thereby
(a) endangers the lives, safety, health, property or comfort of the public; or
(b) obstructs the public in the exercise or enjoyment of any right that is common to all the subjects of Her Majesty in Canada.
it would be up to the crown to prove the case and establish a precedent, but that should not be difficult. somebody smoking meth on public land is very clearly endangering the health of the public and obstructing their right to enjoy the public property.
i have made this argument before to the windsor police and have not been able to get them to act. perhaps somebody else should try.