Pubdate: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 Source: Daily Herald-Tribune, The (CN AB) Copyright: 2003 The Daily Herald-Tribune Contact: http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/804 Author: Canadian Press POT DECRIMINALIZED IN B.C. VANCOUVER - A B.C. provincial court decriminalized possession of marijuana Monday. In a ruling, the court said "there is no offence known to law at this time for simple possession of marijuana." The decision follows similar rulings in Ontario, P.E.I. and Nova Scotia. It relies on an July 2000 decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal in which the judge declared the law prohibiting simple possession to be constitutionally invalid because it did not have an exemption for medical use. The defendant was an epileptic who said he needed cannabis to control life-threatening seizures. Parliament was given one year to deal with the legal loophole and it came up with the Medical Marijuana Access Regulations. But the Ontario and B.C. courts have said that wasn't enough, noting the regulations don't have the force of law and can be amended without debate. As a result, the law prohibiting possession was held to have been stricken from the books by the ruling in the Ontario case. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth