cannabisnews.com: Pot Laws Up in Air





Pot Laws Up in Air
Posted by CN Staff on January 03, 2003 at 08:10:57 PT
By Ajay Bhardwaj, Edmonton Sun
Source: Edmonton Sun
The Justice Department will "probably" appeal yesterday's Ontario court decision that ruled there are no laws forbidding the possession of small amounts of marijuana. Jim Leising, the department's director of prosecution in Ontario, said federal lawyers will move quickly to clarify the laws surrounding possession of pot for recreational use and decide whether to appeal the ruling to the Ontario Superior Court.
"It probably will be appealed," Leising said. "Certainly there is a need to ensure the law is clear." Justice Douglas Phillips threw out charges against a 16-year-old Windsor teen yesterday, siding with defence lawyer Brian McAllister who argued there's no law in Canada prohibiting the possession of 30 grams of pot or less. University of Alberta law professor Sanjeev Anand said there is a "clear law against the possession of marijuana," which has been challenged on constitutional grounds in the past. "The question is, where does the court draw the line. Is 30 grams too minimal an amount to use? "What a judge might do is say 'OK, I'm going to enlarge this defence and you're going to have to have a sizable amount of marijuana before I'm going to recognize that you actually possess marijuana.' " Courts, Anand added, are reluctant to "criminalize" behaviour unless there's a "real" prospect for harm. "And simple possession of marijuana would not fall under that category." And Anand believes the decision isn't precedent-setting. "This is one trial judge in Ontario, so this isn't even binding in Ontario, much less in other provinces," he said. "But it is an indication that the courts are looking at the marijuana laws with a lot of scrutiny." The real test will come when the Supreme Court makes a decision on simple possession of marijuana. Munir Ahmad, founder of the Edmonton Compassion Network, which distributes marijuana to people who have licences to use it, said while the ruling doesn't legalize medicinal use of the drug, it is a step in the right direction. "I would say it's a positive step for people who use marijuana medicinally because it adds to the legitimacy of the image," said Ahmad. "I think the public is now aware that a large portion of the Canadian population has tried marijuana and is no worse for wear as a result of trying it. "There's no reason to criminalize it. It's the wrong way to go about dealing with this sort of drug use." The Edmonton Police Service won't be swayed one way or the other and will bust people caught with marijuana, said Det. Clayton Sach. "It's business as normal, I would think, right now," said Sach, a member of the city cops' anti-cannabis Green Team.  Feds expected to appeal ruling that no law bars possessing small amounts of cannabisSource: Edmonton Sun (CN AB) Author: Ajay Bhardwaj, Edmonton SunPublished:  Friday, January 3, 2003 Copyright: 2003 Canoe Limited PartnershipContact: sun.letters ccinet.ab.ca Website: http://www.fyiedmonton.com/htdocs/edmsun.shtmlRelated Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmPot Possession Not Illegal, Judge Ruleshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15099.shtmlCanada Marijuana Charge Tossed in Dispute http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15097.shtmlPot Case Could Set Precedent http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15094.shtml 
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Comment #2 posted by Tomato on January 03, 2003 at 09:36:07 PT
Airlines should get a boost
I'm curious how many lawyers the US has sent their way to 'help' them through this important matter.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on January 03, 2003 at 09:18:26 PT
Related Articles from Canada
Since much of the article is the same I thought I'd post the link for you all to read rather then post it to the front page. Here it is!Here is Canada.com search results which must be snipped and it makes it easier this way for me. Tokin' Victory: http://www.canoe.ca/TorontoNews/ts.ts-01-03-0007.htmlhttp://www.canada.com/search/results.aspx?keywords=marijuana
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