CALGARY — A former Nova Scotia correctional officer will spend three years in a federal penitentiary after admitting he tried to smuggle concentrated cannabis worth as much as $55,000 inside a provincial jail, Blacklock’s Reporter says.Justice Bryna Hatt of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruled Parliament’s 2018 legalization of recreational cannabis did not excuse Robert McLaughlin’s attempt to bring drugs into the Northeast Nova Correctional Facility in Priestville.“A jail sentence is not only warranted but necessary to bring to bear the full consequences, to satisfy denunciation and deterrence, and to uphold the administration of justice,” Hatt wrote.The judge described cannabis smuggling behind bars as a “profitable enterprise.”McLaughlin pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle 110 grams of concentrated cannabis into the facility for inmates. The court heard the drugs sold for approximately $30 per gram at a licensed dispensary but could fetch as much as $500 per gram in jail.Evidence showed McLaughlin planned the offence over several days.“He took a cell number from an inmate,” Hatt wrote. “He chose to communicate with that cell number to arrange to pick up the drugs. He packaged the drugs in electrical tape to bypass security.”McLaughlin attempted to carry the cannabis into the jail the following day, knowing it would be distributed and sold to inmates, the court said.“Mr. McLaughlin was going to provide the drugs to an inmate,” Hatt wrote. “He was aware they would ultimately be used and sold within the correctional facility.”.Ottawa yanks 4,100 cannabis licences as legal pot industry struggles with debt and black market .The judge said the prison sentence was required because McLaughlin abused a position of trust and threatened the integrity of the correctional system.“Our community does not accept this type of behaviour and seeks to specifically deter Mr. McLaughlin from repeating these offences and to send a message to the general population, and the population of persons in positions of trust, that this type of conduct will not be tolerated,” Hatt wrote.Parliament passed Bill C-12, the Drug-Free Prisons Act, in 2015. The Conservative-sponsored legislation required addiction-awareness programs for inmates and permitted the cancellation of parole for prisoners who failed urine tests.A 2025 Department of Public Safety briefing note said contraband drug interceptions in federal prisons had increased 169% since the law took effect.“Since 2015 drug-related seizures within our institutions have increased by nearly 170%, from 2,444 to 6,586, due to the ongoing vigilance of correctional staff particularly in dealing with the increase in drone incursions,” said the note, titled Contraband And Drones.The department said improved detection technology and the work of front-line correctional officers would be central to intercepting more contraband.“We are confident that with further technological innovations that make it easier to detect and seize contraband items along with the ability and professionalism of our front line officers, we will continue to produce better results,” the note said.
