Pubdate: Fri, 10 Jan 2003
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2003 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact:  http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: James McCarten / Canadian Press

MEDICINAL POT LAW UNCONSTITUTIONAL, JUDGE DECLARES

Violates People's Rights to Safety

TORONTO -- The laws prohibiting marijuana possession in Canada continued to 
crumble yesterday as an Ontario judge declared unconstitutional Ottawa's 
scheme to allow the use of pot for medical reasons.

It's not fair to allow people to smoke medicinal marijuana, then force them 
to get the drug from the corner drug dealer, which is what the scheme 
effectively does, said Superior Court Justice Sidney Lederman.

"Laws which put seriously ill, vulnerable people in a position where they 
have to deal with the criminal underworld to obtain medicine they have been 
authorized to take violate the constitutional right to security of the 
person," Lederman wrote in a 40-page ruling.

"I have grave reservations about a regime which ...grants legal access by 
relying on drug dealers to supply and distribute the required medicine."

Lederman gave the federal government six months to fix the regulations, 
after which time they will be "of no force and effect."

The decision is another clear sign that the laws prohibiting possession of 
small amounts of marijuana are toppling, said lawyer and longtime cannabis 
crusader Alan Young, who argued the case. "It's another nail in the coffin, 
and this is a big nail," an elated Young said after learning of the ruling.

"We feel it will be appealed, but it's the light at the end of the tunnel 
...I can't really see the law maintaining any operation after this year. 
It's sitting on a really precarious foundation."

The regulations are supposed to give eligible people an exemption from the 
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the law that makes possession of pot 
illegal for everyone else.

Instead, Young argued in September, the regulations are so snarled in red 
tape that they discriminate against the very people they're supposed to 
help: those who smoke pot to ease the symptoms of their condition.

Since the Ontario Court of Appeal has already upheld the right of sick 
people to smoke pot to ease their symptoms, Young said the law will 
effectively be invalid if Lederman's ruling survives an appeal.

Department of Justice spokeswoman Dorette Pollard said federal lawyers were 
perusing the judgment and expected to advise Health Minister Anne McLellan 
before the end of the day on what steps to take. "They're reviewing the 
decision, and will advise the minister accordingly," Pollard said. They 
have 30 days to decide whether or not to file an appeal, she added.
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