The applicant, Jeremy Boulton, challenged the constitutionality of the mandatory minimum sentencing provision in s. 7(2)(b)(i) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) under s. 12 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Boulton, convicted of producing 117 marijuana plants for trafficking, argued the six-month mandatory minimum was grossly disproportionate for reasonably foreseeable hypothetical offenders, specifically a "generous university student" sharing six plants.
The court dismissed the "over the licence limit" hypothetical but accepted the "generous university student" scenario, finding that a six-month mandatory jail sentence for such an offender would be grossly disproportionate and violate s. 12 of the Charter.
The court concluded that s. 7(2)(b)(i) of the CDSA violates s. 12 of the Charter, with further submissions on s. 1 justification to follow.
