Pubdate: Wed, 15 Apr 2009
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2009 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: John Goddard
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)

BAR OWNER FIGHTS MEDICAL MARIJUANA RULING

To Tell Court That Rights Commission's Order Violates Ontario Law

A Burlington bar owner is taking steps to clarify the limits of
medical marijuana use in public.

Ted Kindos, of Gator Ted's Tap and Grill, has filed a federal court
application asking that people permitted by Ottawa to use marijuana
for health reasons remain subject to provincial laws. He wants the
court to declare he doesn't have to serve such users when doing so
would violate the Ontario Liquor Licence Act, putting him at risk of
losing his business. The act says he can't serve anyone possessing a
banned substance.

"You can't put somebody above the liquor licence act - that's
ridiculous," Kindos said yesterday of an Ontario Human Rights
Commission ruling against him last year, saying a disabled person has
a right to be served even if doing so breaks provincial laws.

Last month, Ontario Government Services Minister Ted McMeekin sought
to clarify rules on prescribed marijuana use, asking federal Health
Minister Leona Aglukkaq for a meeting on the issue. Four years ago,
customer Steve Gibson was smoking a joint outside Gator Ted's when
Kindos asked him to move from the doorway.

Gibson, who smokes to control pain, complained to the rights
commission that Kindos discriminated against him as a disabled person.

The commission said Kindos must pay Gibson $2,000, and post signs in
Gator Ted's and on his website saying, "We accommodate authorized
marijuana users." He was set to comply when he learned of the liquor
act prohibitions.

Kindos filed his application in the Federal Court of Canada last week,
asking a judge to find Gibson's Health Canada permit doesn't allow him
to smoke at a bar entrance or possess marijuana in a bar.

An Ontario Human Rights Tribunal is to reconvene on the case in June,
Kindos said, "but if federal court sees fit to hear it, it's out of
the commission's hands."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin