Pubdate: Wed, 13 Apr 2011
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2011 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Sarah Boesveld, National Post
Referenced: The Decision http://mapinc.org/url/Q7Itqn7O
Referenced: Controlled Drugs and Substances Act 
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-38.8/
Referenced: Marihuana Medical Access Regulations http://mapinc.org/url/JUBA0dju
Referenced: Charter of Rights and Freedoms 
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/charter/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

ONTARIO COURT STRIKES DOWN MARIJUANA BAN

Ontario is one step closer to the legalization of marijuana after the 
Ontario Superior Court struck down two key parts of the Controlled 
Drugs and Substances Act that prohibit the possession and production of pot.

The court declared the rules that govern medical marijuana access and 
the prohibitions laid out in sections 4 and 7 of the Act 
"constitutionally invalid and of no force and effect" on Monday, 
effectively paving the way for legalization.

If the government does not respond within 90 days with a successful 
delay or re-regulation of marijuana, the drug will be legal to 
possess and produce in Ontario, where the decision is binding.

The ruling stemmed from the constitutional challenge of Matthew 
Mernagh, a man who relies on medical marijuana to ease pain brought 
on by fibromyalgia, scoliosis, seizures and depression.

The Ontario Court of Appeal had previously recognized that to deprive 
someone with a serious illness of medical marijuana if it relieves 
their pain is a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and 
Freedoms. As a result of that, the federal government created the 
Marijuana Medical Access Regulations to let people legally get, 
possess and grow marijuana if they have a licence supported by a 
medical doctor.

Health Canada's medical marijuana program regulates and approves 
which growers patients can buy from and how much they're legally 
allowed to use for their treatment.

However, Justice Donald Taliano wrote in his decision on Monday that 
Mr. Mernagh - a well-known marijuana advocate who has been charged 
for possession and production of marijuana numerous times - has been 
unable to get a doctor to sign off on a medical marijuana licence.

"Doctors often have a great deal of difficulty with this and have in 
many cases blatantly outright refused to sign these forms," says 
Jacob Hunter, the policy director for the Vancouver-based Beyond 
Prohibition Foundation, which fights for the legalization of marijuana.

It's meant many Canadians waiting to be accepted into the medical 
marijuana program seek out medical marijuana without a licence, at 
times leading to possession and production-related arrests.

Mr. Mernagh's criminal charge is permanently stayed, Justice Taliano 
wrote in his ruling, and he is granted a "personal exemption" to buy 
or produce marijuana during the 90 days given to the government in 
order to submit its challenge.

The decision is a huge win for legalization supporters and for 
medical marijuana patients.

"I think it represents a dramatic step forward for critically and 
chronically ill Canadians," B.C. lawyer and Foundation executive 
director Kirk Tousaw said Tuesday night. "It is undoubtedly going to 
progress through the court system ... but it's gratifying to see a 
court has accepted what so many thousand medical marijuana patients 
have been saying for years -that it's incredibly difficult if not 
impossible to access medical marijuana."

He compared the case to that of Henry Morgentaler, the abortion 
doctor and advocate whose constitutional win eventually led to the 
widespread legalization of abortion, one that "became legal without 
any real regulatory scheme surrounding it," Mr. Tousaw said.

Anti-drug action groups and others against the legalization of 
marijuana have said legalizing marijuana could lead to widespread use 
and increase crime rates.

Mr. Tousaw said that if unchallenged, the Ontario ruling could have a 
ripple effect across Canada. "I would argue that if marijuana is 
legal in Ontario, you can't realistically have it illegal in the rest 
of the country."  
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake