A Supreme Court judge in St. John's refused to send a 26-year-old man to jail for possessing three kilograms of marijuana, while making reference to a classic Bob Dylan lyric in the process.

Justice Donald Burrage started his written decision with a quote from an Edmonton magistrate in 1922, who called marijuana smokers "raving maniacs," immune to pain and "liable to kill using the most savage methods of cruelty."

"In 1964, singer/songwriter, and now Nobel Prize in Literature recipient, Bob Dylan, released his iconic song The Times They Are A Changin'," Burrage wrote in the next paragraph.

"This decision concerns a just and appropriate sentence for Nicholas Murphy for possession of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking, in these changing times."

To now send him to prison would be entirely counterproductive - Justice Donald Burrage

Murphy was caught in January 2017, when the RCMP in Dieppe, N.B., intercepted a box of weed being shipped through UPS to an address in Mount Pearl.

Police in Newfoundland delivered the package to the house, which belonged to Murphy's friend. The friend told police he was paid $500 to accept a package, which he was then supposed to hand over to Murphy.

When arrested, Murphy admitted his guilt but said he was also just a middleman. He refused to say who the recipient was supposed to be.

Justice Donald Burrage gave a Newfoundland man a suspended sentence, sparing him from serving jail time for pot possession. (Glenn Payette/CBC)

Murphy pleaded guilty to the charges on Nov. 23, 2017, and was convicted to one charge of possession of marijuana in excess of three kilograms for the purpose of trafficking.

Under the laws at the time, Murphy could have been sentenced to life in prison for the charge.

The Crown suggested a term between 18 and 24 months, but Burrage was having none of it.

"To now send him to prison would be entirely counterproductive and, in my view, contrary to the interests of justice," he wrote.

Instead, he handed Murphy a suspended sentence — meaning no jail time, but a criminal record and probation.

'Social mores' are shifting

Burrage said the attitudes toward marijuana have changed dramatically since the 1922 court magistrate's decision called cannabis users murderous lunatics.

He said the need to impose a sentence that would deter people from committing the same crimes is less important today than it was before legalization, as "social mores" have shifted.

Burrage said Murphy has shown resilience in trying to find honest work since his arrest, and that indicated he was not a threat to reoffend.

Sentences varied over last decade

In his decision, Burrage said there have been three distinct periods in the last 10 years when it comes to attitudes on possessing marijuana with the purpose of trafficking.

Prior to 2012, a judge could give a conditional sentence — like house arrest — for the same crime Murphy committed.

We have a repentant young man, with no criminal antecedents and his future ahead of him - Justice Donald Burrage

Then the Harper government introduced stiffer punishments with the Safe Streets and Communities Act, removing the ability for a judge to grant a conditional sentence for possession of marijuana over three kilograms.

Since last year, Burrage said the country is in an "embryonic stage," in which judges have been adapting their sentences in anticipation of legalization, and now in reaction to it.

Murphy will now spend the next two years on probation, while he returns to work as a millwright in British Columbia, with hopes of becoming a journeyman.

Burrage admitted his sentence was on the low end of the spectrum, but said foregoing jail time was warranted.

"We have a repentant young man, with no criminal antecedents and his future ahead of him; a future which includes a career in his chosen field," he wrote.

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