Pubdate: Fri, 25 Mar 2016
Source: Prince George Citizen (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Prince George Citizen
Contact:  http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/350
Author: Kristy Kirkup
Page: 17

GOV'T WON'T APPEAL COURT RULING ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

OTTAWA - The federal government will not appeal a Federal Court 
decision which struck down a ban on medicinal marijuana patients 
growing their own pot, Health Minister Jane Philpott said Thursday.

Speaking outside the Commons, Philpott said the government respects 
the February decision.

The ruling followed a constitutional challenge from four B.C. 
residents against a law passed by the Harper government, which they 
argued violated their charter rights.

In his decision to strike down the ban, Judge Michael Phelan 
suspended the ruling for six months to allow Ottawa to rewrite the law.

Philpott said Thursday the government will move to address medicinal 
marijuana regulations in response to the concerns of the court.

It intends to have completed this process by August - the time frame 
laid out in the judgment.

"At this point, I am not going to speculate as to what kind of 
regulations will be put in place or how the current regulations will 
be amended, but certainly we will take into respect every 
recommendation of the court decision," Philpott said.

The government will ensure that those who require marijuana for 
medical purposes have appropriate access, she added.

"Until such time as the amendments are put in place, the marijuana 
for medical purposes regulations will remain in effect," she said.

"If people have an injunction that allows them to be able to grow for 
medical purposes, then those with an injunction will continue to be 
able to use that.

"Otherwise the licensed producers are the only organizations that are 
allowed to produce medical marijuana under these regulations."

Health Canada's medicinal marijuana regulations were first introduced 
in 2013 and required patients to buy cannabis from licensed producers 
instead of growing their own.

The Liberal government has also committed to regulating and 
legalizing recreational marijuana, though it has yet to proceed with 
the establishment of a federal-provincial-territorial task force to 
consult experts on how to proceed.

Bill Blair, the Liberal MP and former Toronto police chief who was 
tapped by the Trudeau government as its pot frontman, has stressed 
Criminal Code provisions on marijuana must be enforced as the 
government considers a legalized regime.

In February, members of the police community said the discussion 
surrounding legalization had created confusion, particularly for 
front line cops.

Blair, parliamentary secretary to the justice minister, stressed at 
an open Senate Liberal caucus meeting that the laws remain on the books.

"The laws that currently exist, exist in this country and we are a 
.. nation of laws," he said.

"Quite frankly, until those laws are repealed by Parliament through 
the appropriate processes, they should be upheld, they should be obeyed."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom