Pubdate: Wed, 22 Jan 2003
Source: Other Press, The (CN BC Edu)
Copyright: 2003 The Other Press
Contact:  http://otherpress.douglas.bc.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2684
Author: Ryan Kennedy

FEDS' APPEAL KEEPS POT ISSUE SMOULDERING

Law Ruled Ineffective And Invalid

TORONTO (CUP)--Smoking marijuana has been known to spawn forgetful 
potheads, but it was the federal government who lacked short-term memory 
last Thursday, as a judge ruled their marijuana law ineffective and 
therefore invalid.

Paving the way for potential decriminalization of the "sweet leaf," or at 
least an exemption, Ontario judge Douglas Phillips ruled in favour of a 
16-year-old Windsor toker who argued there is no law in Canada governing 
the use of marijuana for recreational purposes, or the possession of 30 
grams or less of the drug. The boy was arrested carrying five grams.

The ruling comes as a result of an earlier case in which it was determined 
that denying marijuana to chronic pain sufferers who benefit from the drug 
was unconstitutional. Instead of simply erasing the possession law that was 
on the books, the judge in that case gave the federal government one year 
to create a better one to be passed through Parliament. The new federal 
guidelines were instead handed down through cabinet, and therefore deemed 
inadequate by Phillips in his ruling. The 16-year-old was arrested a day 
after the one-year moratorium had lapsed.

"I think it's also satisfying to know that this particular law has been 
declared invalid, particularly given how burdensome it is in terms of 
criminalizing the behaviour that hundreds of thousands of Canadians engage 
in," the teen's lawyer, Brian McAllister, told the CBC. To celebrate the 
ruling, marijuana activists in Toronto planned to hold a "smoke-in" at 
Nathan Phillips Square on Friday, complete with ice-skating and a snowman 
smoking a joint.

Not surprisingly, the federal Justice Department has announced it will 
appeal the ruling. The feds don't exactly have a united front on the issue, 
however. Last year, federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon raised the 
possibility of complete decriminalization of marijuana, causing many 
advocates to entertain the idea of blazing more than just legal trails.
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