Mountie's uniform seized after marijuana pictures emerge

KINGSCLEAR FIRST NATION, New Brunswick, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- A New Brunswick officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said his uniform was seized after he was photographed smoking medical marijuana in uniform.

Cpl. Ronald Francis, who serves with J Division in New Brunswick, said two officers visited his Kingsclear First Nation home Thursday evening and seized his regular working uniform, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Friday.

Francis said the officers also ordered him to retrieve his red serge uniform from a friend's house and turn it in to authorities.

Francis said the officers did not take his badge and he is still a member of the RCMP, but he is currently on medical leave.

He said the uniform seizure came after pictures emerged of him smoking medical marijuana while wearing his red serge uniform. He was prescribed medical marijuana Nov. 4 to relieve the symptoms of his post-traumatic stress disorder.

Francis said he took the offending pictures to draw attention to and raise awareness of the need for medical marijuana among RCMP officers suffering from PTSD.

"The heavy hand's coming down on me, but I knew I'd have to prepare for that," Francis said. "It's got to change before more people die."