Pubdate: Wed, 01 Jul 2015
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2015 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Mike Hager
Page: S2

DROP LIMITS ON POT TRANSPORT, LAWYER URGES

Citing a recent Supreme Court of Canada ruling, a B.C. lawyer has
asked a Federal Court judge to strike down limits on how much medical
marijuana can be carried at one time and whether an individual's grow
site can be relocated.

John Conroy is representing small-scale growers challenging the
federal government's attempt to prevent them from cultivating their
own pot and instead move to a regulated commercial system. Patients,
or the producers they designate, are currently able to continue
growing cannabis under the terms of a Federal Court injunction as they
await a final decision.

Last week, Mr. Conroy filed a submission asking the court to expand
the terms of that injunction, citing a separate decision at the
Supreme Court last month related to edible cannabis products.

Mr. Conroy said the same rationale that led the top court to strike
down Ottawa's ban on edible medical-marijuana products should apply to
his request to allow his clients to move their grow sites and
transport more than 150 grams at a time, the legal limit imposed under
Health Canada's new medical marijuana regime.

Mr. Conroy says even under the terms of the injunction, his clients
are being forced "to choose between their liberty and health."

"They can't go out of town to work: if you're over a five-gram-a-day
[prescription], what are you going to do?" Mr. Conroy said of his
clients fighting the 150-gram limit. "You can only go away for a week."

Lawyers for the government have until July 8 to respond to how the
ruling on edible marijuana should affect the ongoing Federal Court
case, Mr. Conroy said. Mr. Conroy's four plaintiffs are alleging that
their Section 7 Charter rights were violated when the federal
government enacted its new medical-marijuana regulations last year.

He says his clients can't afford marijuana under the new system, which
also doesn't give them control over the specific strains they use, and
is asking the court to force the government to allow patients to grow
their own marijuana and possess not only dried buds, but also
tinctures, sprays and edibles.

A decision in the case could come as early as this fall.
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