Pubdate: Sat, 11 Jan 2003
Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB)
Copyright: 2003 The Calgary Sun
Contact:  http://www.fyicalgary.com/calsun.shtml
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/67
Author: Gretchen Drummie, Sun Media
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

POT LAWS GET SMOKED

Ontario Judges Say Simple Possession Law Is Gone

TORONTO -- A second Ontario judge has "pounded another stake in the heart" 
of Canada's pot law finding there is nothing on the books forbidding the 
possession of small amounts of dope.

Ontario Court of Justice Judge John Moore yesterday threw out a simple 
possession charge against a 40-year-old man with no criminal record, who 
was alleged to have had the equivalent of a joint in his pocket.

Moore agreed with his Windsor colleague Justice Douglas Phillips who on 
Jan. 2 found there are no laws in Canada prohibiting the possession of 30 
grams of marijuana or less.

Moore found that the law as it currently stands in Ontario "no longer 
exists." Thus, he said, the charge against Martin Barnes is "an offence not 
known to law" and is null and void.

"Anyone charged with simple possession of marijuana in this city should be 
on their phones to their lawyers this afternoon telling them to get into 
court and get these charges thrown out," said lawyer Aaron Harnett who won 
the argument.

Moore said it's a "simple and straightforward" matter and Harnett's 
argument was "common sense."

The Windsor decision flowed from a July 2000 Court of Appeal ruling that 
gave Parliament a year to amend the law or it'd fall off the books. 
Parliament didn't, and instead regulations were installed that Justice 
Sidney Lederman found unconstitutional this week. Harnett said pot laws are 
"under attack from all sides now."
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager