Pubdate: Fri, 12 Jun 2015
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2015 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Sean Fine
Page: A2
Referenced: (R. v. Smith): http://mapinc.org/url/d2dzMbjW

HEALTH MINISTER 'OUTRAGED' BY SCOC MARIJUANA RULING

An institutional dispute between the Supreme Court of Canada and the
Conservative government reached a new plateau on Thursday after the
court said medical-marijuana users have the right to consume the drug
in ways other than smoking - such as cookies, lip balm or lozenges.

Health Minister Rona Ambrose, speaking to reporters, said she is
"outraged" by the ruling, and she accused the Supreme Court of
steering young people toward marijuana use in the same fashion as
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, who has proposed decriminalizing the
drug. She said it should not be judges but medical experts at Health
Canada who set the rules.

"This expansion of a pre-existing court-imposed program to now include
cookies and candies makes marijuana more attractive and accessible to
youth and reflects Justin Trudeau's campaign to legalize and normalize
marijuana," she said in a prepared statement.

There was no reference to candies in the Supreme Court
ruling.

Ms. Ambrose's mention of a pre-existing court-imposed program refers
to lower-court decisions establishing the right of chronically ill
people to use marijuana for medical purposes.

In no other Supreme Court ruling of the past 18 months - including an
end to assisted suicide, the striking down of prostitution laws and an
unequivocal no to the government's plans for Senate reform - has the
government responded with the strong and swift criticisms that
followed Thursday's marijuana ruling. Last spring, after the
government lost five major cases in six weeks, Prime Minister Stephen
Harper publicly assailed the integrity of Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin.

The 7-0 ruling on medical marijuana offered the biggest rejection of
the government's stated war on drugs since 2011, when the Supreme
Court said unanimously that federal authorities had no right to close
a Vancouver clinic at which drug addicts could inject illegal drugs
under medical supervision.

Several other marijuana-related cases are before Canadian courts,
including one on the right of medical users to grow their own plants.

The Supreme Court said on Thursday that the federal law setting out
how medical marijuana is used is arbitrary and runs counter to the
government's stated purpose of protecting health. And the ruling was
signed by "the court" - a signal of the judges' unity on the subject.

Citing evidence accepted by the trial judge who first heard the case -
evidence from medical experts and medicinal users - the court said
that by insisting on only the smokable form of marijuana, the
government was subjecting ill people to the risk of cancer and
bronchial infections and precluding the possibility of choosing a more
effective treatment.

The case involved Owen Smith of Victoria, who worked for a medical
"club" that sold marijuana to those who use it for medicinal purposes.
In 2009, police, responding to a complaint about an offensive smell in
an apartment unit, found 211 marijuana cookies and other products. Mr.
Smith was charged with possession of marijuana and possession for the
purpose of trafficking.

The trial judge ruled that the law limiting medical users to smoking
the dried form of cannabis violated their right to liberty. Two of
three judges on the B.C. Court of Appeal agreed, and the federal
government appealed.

Jason Gratl, a lawyer representing the British Columbia Civil
Liberties Association, which intervened at the Supreme Court, said the
ruling sends a message that the courts will not uphold arbitrary laws
that have no basis in science.

"The argument that medical marijuana must be smoked is, after all,
ideological, counterproductive in terms of health and lacking any
factual foundation," he said in an interview.

Kirk Tousaw, a lawyer who represented Mr. Smith, called the ruling "a
massive step forward for patient rights in this country."

Ottawa brought in regulations in 2013 restricting the growing of
marijuana to government-licensed producers.

Adam Szweras, a founder of Nutritional High International Inc., which
sells its technology for edible marijuana products in the United
States, said his company will be able to work with licensed producers
in Canada now.

William Trudell, chair of the Canadian Council of Criminal Defence
Lawyers, said Ms. Ambrose's use of the word "outraged" was
disrespectful.
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MAP posted-by: Matt