N.W.T. leads territories in frequency of pot possession charges

Arrests and charges for possession of marijuana in the Northwest Territories is nearly double the per capita average in Canada, a CBC News analysis has determined.

On average, 79 Canadians out of 100,000 were charged with possession of marijuana in 2014. Kelowna, British Columbia, tops a list of 34 Canadian cities for the highest per capita rate, at 251 charges per 100,000 population.

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In the Northwest Territories, 148 residents out of 100,000 were charged. Nunavut's number was 125 still significantly higher than the national average while Yukon's was slightly below the average across the country at 73 charges per 100,000 residents.

Lydia Bardak, the community justice coordinator for Yellowknife's John Howard society, attributes the high number of arrests in the Northwest Territories to good police work, as well asa large number of people who self-medicate untreated childhood trauma.

"It's great to have the enforcement," said Bardak. "It's great to get that much product off the street.

"But we are talking about people who self-medicate. So are we doing as much in treatment and prevention as we are in enforcement?"

'It's basic economics'

Bardak's focus on drug treatment and prevention, rather than enforcement, is a commonly-held view across Canada: a majority of Canadians are in favour ofeither decriminalizing or legalizing personal marijuana use, according to the latest findings of Vote Compass, CBC's voter-engagement survey.

"Over time, you take drug dealers off the street, but there will be more," she said."It's basic economics:supply and demand.

"If we could heal and treat people because they self-medicate, then the market will decrease."

According to Statistics Canada, the Northwest Territories convicts about 20 per cent of people arrested for possession of marijuana in the territory a low number compared to the national average, which sits at 39 per cent.

Bardak also says the high number of arrests can be linked to high incomes in the territories, as well as the additional disposablemoney those jobs create.