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Old October 8th, 2003, 11:19 AM   #1
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Judges vote to reinstate pot use laws

Just though you guys might want to know how things are going in Ontario regarding possession of pot. By now you guys know my stance on this issue, and I will be doing my part, and I will keep sending my letters to my MP. I know alot of Americans come here, and knew it was legal to smoke pot in Ontario, but this is the heads up to lay low for now, or don't be so blunt about it in public.
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Possessing marijuana is once again illegal, Ontario's top court ruled Tuesday, ending what a Windsor lawyer who challenged the law called "a great experiment" with liberalized pot regulation.

The Ontario Court of Appeal put the prohibition against marijuana possession back in effect while relaxing the rules for those who require the drug for medical reasons.

The cleverly crafted decision will be difficult to appeal and puts the onus back on politicians to decide whether to liberalize Canada's marijuana laws, said Windsor lawyer Brian McAllister.

In addition to several challenges to the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations, the appeal court considered the case of a 17-year-old Kingsville youth charged with possessing marijuana in April 2002.

McAllister convinced two lower court judges in Windsor to dismiss the charge against the boy, who had no medical reason for having the drug. The judges found McAllister's argument that the law against pot possession became invalid after July 31, 2001, was correct.

The appeal court agreed, but for a different reason than the one cited by the Windsor judges. The law was invalid because the rules governing access to medical marijuana during that time unfairly restricted how qualified users could get the drug ? essentially forcing them to go to the black market, the court said.

The appeal court fixed the problem by getting rid of restrictions that stopped those licensed to grow marijuana for medical users from receiving compensation, growing the drug for more than one person and pooling resources with other licensed producers. It also said sick people no longer need to have support from more than one physician to apply.

The ruling opens the door for so-called "compassion clubs" to operate legally, but is only a partial victory for medical marijuana users, McAllister said. "It's still very difficult to qualify."

While his young client is cleared, the appeal court has shut the door on recreational pot users, he said.

Police can now lay charges for marijuana possession, agreed Richard Pollock, federal prosecutor for Windsor and Essex County.

"The court of appeal has clarified the question of whether it's legal or illegal to possess cannabis marijuana, and the answer to that question is it's illegal," he said.

During the five months the marijuana possession prohibition was in question, an estimated 75 to 100 charges were dismissed by Windsor judges.

Less than a dozen charges of pot possession laid after July 31, 2001, and before Tuesday are still before the Windsor courts, Pollock said. "Our office is going to take its direction (on those cases) from instructions delivered by the Department of Justice."

The department's position Tuesday was that each case should be assessed individually, said spokesman Patrick Charette. Those convicted of marijuana possession in Ontario in the last two years have the option of appealing or seeking a pardon, he said.

Health Minister Anne McLellan said she and Justice Minister Martin Cauchon will review the judgment and "determine how we're going to move forward." She said she was pleased the court approved of the interim policy of supplying marijuana to qualified applicants Ottawa introduced in July.

McAllister said he hopes the court rulings will result in police laying fewer marijuana possession charges.

"We've just had a great experiment. The last five months or so has shown what happens when you don't regulate marijuana and I think most people would agree the difference has been imperceptible," he said.

"It's been exciting to watch events transpire and be part of them. I'm happy, at the end of the day, for my client. In the bigger picture I'm disappointed with the sudden end to our little experiment." ? With files from Canadian Press
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Old October 10th, 2003, 12:16 PM   #2
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TORONTO (CP) - Possessing small amounts of pot is illegal again in Ontario after an appeal court ruling Tuesday struck down parts of Ottawa's medicinal marijuana program.

In the process of striking provisions it deemed unconstitutional, the Ontario Court of Appeal sealed a legal loophole opened in January that had rendered Canada's pot-possession laws virtually unenforceable. "That little gap that we had in Ontario where the law did not exist and police could not arrest you for smoking (marijuana) is over," lawyer Alan Young said outside court.

The court upheld an earlier Ontario Superior Court ruling that found patients who qualified under the program were unfairly restricted in obtaining a safe, legal supply of the drug.

But it stopped short of the remedy many marijuana advocates had been hoping for: striking down the law in its entirety.

Instead, the three-judge panel nimbly singled out and struck down specific provisions of the federal Marijuana Medical Access Regulations in order to restore the plan's constitutionality.

Those provisions restricted licensed growers from receiving compensation for their product, growing the drug for more than one qualified patient and pooling resources with other licensed producers.

It also struck down a requirement that sick people get two doctors to validate their need to use marijuana as a drug.

The appeal court agreed with a lower court ruling in January that deemed the government's regulations unconstitutional because they forced participants to either grow their own pot or buy it on the black market.

"The interests of justice are best served by removing any uncertainty as to the constitutionality of the possession prohibition while at the same time providing for a constitutionally acceptable medical exemption," the three-judge panel said in a written decision.

"The law did not exist in the past several months because of problems with the medical program," Young explained.

"(Tuesday), the court fixed the problems with the medical program, so if the medical program is operating constitutionally then the criminal law also operates constitutionally."

Warren Hitzig, founder of the Toronto Compassion Centre, which provides patients access to marijuana to ease their symptoms, said the changes could result in fewer restrictions on such facilities.

"For the centres, it puts us in a very good position," Hitzig said. "The government has run out of many options and this opens up the door . . . (for the centres) to have licences to distribute out the marijuana."

Toronto and provincial police officials refused to comment on the decision, saying it was still under review.

In Ottawa, Health Minister Anne McLellan said she and Justice Minister Martin Cauchon will review the judgment and "determine how we're going to move forward."

McLellan said she was pleased that the court approved of the interim policy of supplying marijuana to qualified applicants Ottawa introduced in July in order to get around the constitutional issue.

"(The court) upheld the overall regime in light of our interim July policy around licit supply of seed and product; obviously, I'm very pleased about that," she said.

"We will evaluate the rest of the decision, it's a very complex decision."

The fact that the law remained standing left some medicinal marijuana advocates celebrating only a partial victory.

"I'm pleased with it in one respect because . . .we have an opportunity there to make medicine en masse for sick and dying people in this country," said Alison Myrden, a medicinal user and longtime marijuana crusader, as she sat in her wheelchair outside the courthouse, smoking a joint.

But Myrden, who is permitted to smoke pot to alleviate symptoms of chronic progressive multiple sclerosis and other severe ailments, admitted she was disappointed that the law survived.

"But my recreational friends are going to get burned in a way that I'm not happy with at all. So I don't think that's fair."

The initial lawsuit was launched by seven Canadians with various medical conditions, along with their caregiver, who demanded the federal government provide a safe and reliable source of medical marijuana.

Kent Roach, a law professor at the University of Toronto, said the panel tried to steer clear of whether or not marijuana should be illegal at all.

"The court was very careful to distinguish this case, about medical marijuana, from the broader issue of whether it's constitutional to prohibit the possession of marijuana," Roach said.

The Supreme Court of Canada is expected to rule on a different case this fall that could determine the future of marijuana possession laws, he added. And Parliament is bracing for fierce debate over proposed legislation that would soften penalties for possessing small amounts of the drug.

"This is not the end of the story," Roach said. "There are many more chapters to come."

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Old October 10th, 2003, 12:17 PM   #3
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I have to agree with this one... There is a time and place, and school is not one of them.
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While the House of Commons Thursday debated decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, the local public school board was working on beefing up its own drug policy.

"Whatever the legal status is, our position is it has no place in our schools," said Mary Jean Gallagher, director of the Greater Essex County District School Board.

The province's Safe Schools Act refers to alcohol and "illegal substances." Foreseeing a situation where a student could argue that the quantity of marijuana they possess is no longer considered illegal, public board administrators are suggesting cannabis be named in their policy as a banned substance.

The recommendation will be put to trustees at the board's next meeting Wednesday, Gallagher said.

"We don't want to be in a situation where if a kid brings a bottle of beer he can be suspended, but if he brings a bag of weed he may not be. That's not exactly what we had in mind for our schools."

Ottawa's proposed Cannabis Reform Bill is causing havoc with school drug policies.

At 10 French high schools in Montreal, students who show up for class stoned are no longer automatically suspended. In a suburb north of Toronto, a student is fighting his suspension for marijuana use.

The local Catholic school board is not amending its drug policy, said superintendent Tim Byrne.

While the policy does not address marijuana specifically, it refers to both alcohol and drug abuse violations.

A former high school vice-principal with first-hand experience enforcing the board's drug policy, Byrne said students will continue to be suspended if found to possess or be under the influence of marijuana. Police will still be notified in instances of trafficking.

The public board calls in police for drug possession too, said Gallagher. An ironic twist of the federal bill, said Gallagher, is that "schools will have stronger consequences to deal with smaller amounts of marijuana than the police would."

The Liberal government, meanwhile, sent cautious signals Thursday that it may agree to toughen some provisions of its marijuana decriminalization bill in response to domestic critics.

But Justice Minister Martin Cauchon stood fast against harsher attacks from south of the border, rejecting claims by John Walters, the U.S. drug czar, that Canada's approach is out of step with the rest of the hemisphere.

The double-barrelled message came as the Liberals moved to fast-track legislation that would eliminate the threat of jail terms and criminal records for anyone in possession of 15 grams or less of pot.

"The government is listening and willing to consider amendments to ensure we get it right," Cauchon told the House of Commons.

He did not elaborate, but senior sources say the justice minister is prepared to look at lowering the possession limit to 10 grams.

He is also reportedly willing to consider tougher penalties for repeat offenders and minimum mandatory prison terms for people involved in marijuana grow operations.
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