cannabisnews.com: Six Months To Fix Medical-Marijuana Regulations Six Months To Fix Medical-Marijuana Regulations Posted by CN Staff on January 09, 2003 at 15:09:25 PT By James McCarten, Canadian Press Source: Canadian Press Toronto - A group of seriously ill people has won the latest battle in an ongoing war with Ottawa over a federal scheme to permit the use of medical marijuana that the patients say violates their constitutional rights. An Ontario judge agreed Thursday that the federal government's Medical Marijuana Access Regulations are unconstitutional because they prevent more deserving people from exemption than they permit. The ruling from Superior Court Justice Sidney Lederman is binding on lower courts and will likely wreak further havoc on the laws in Canada that make possession of marijuana illegal, said lawyer Alan Young. "It's another nail in the coffin, and this is a big nail," an elated Young said after learning of the ruling. "We feel it will be appealed, but it's the light at the end of the tunnel . . .I can't really see the law maintaining any operation after this year. It's sitting on a really precarious foundation." The regulations are supposed to give eligible people an exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the law which makes possession of pot illegal for everyone else. Instead, Young argued in September, the regulations are so snarled in red tape that they discriminate against the very people they're supposed to help: those who smoke pot to ease the symptoms of their condition. Young said he fielded phone calls all afternoon from supporters of his clients, seven people from across Ontario who use pot to contend with a variety of ailments, including multiple sclerosis and hepatitis C. "Everyone's overjoyed; I'm getting calls from across the country from this pot world," Young said. "They can't get out of bed in the morning, but they can get this news very quickly." Unless Ottawa appeals the ruling or comes up with a new medical-marijuana regime within six months, that law will fall, said Young, who's convinced the federal government's reluctance to relax marijuana prohibition in Canada is based on U.S. disapproval. "It reaches a point where the government will realize it can't salvage the law, even if it realizes the Americans will be unhappy," he said. "Their hands will become tied." Department of Justice spokeswoman Dorette Pollard said federal lawyers were perusing the judgment "as we speak" and were expected to advise Health Minister Anne McLellan before the end of the day on what steps to take. "They're reviewing the decision, and will advise the minister accordingly," Pollard said. They have 30 days to decide whether or not to file an appeal, she added. The ruling is the latest blow to Canada's marijuana laws, which suffered a major setback earlier this month when a judge threw out possession charges against a 16-year-old boy in Windsor, Ont., on a technicality arising from the regulations. In that case, the judge agreed with lawyer Brian McAllister's arguments that flaws in the medical-marijuana regime effectively negate the law's ability to prohibit possession of five grams or less of marijuana. The Department of Justice has already filed an appeal in that case. Young argued in court last year that the regulations demand medical declarations that few doctors are willing to provide given the legal consequences. They also make it impossible for a doctor to recommend a dosage, since the drug remains unregulated in Canada. Even those who do win a legal exemption - more than 300 people in Canada are currently permitted by Ottawa to smoke pot for medical reasons - are forced to break the law, resorting to black-market weed because the government is dragging its heels on efforts to cultivate a pure supply for clinical trial. There was no immediate word Thursday on whether the ruling forces the government to make available the marijuana it grew in a Manitoba mineshaft under a $5.7-million contract for clinical trials. McLellan had refused to allow the marijuana to be distributed because she says it simply isn't pure enough. Complete Title: Ontario Court Gives Ottawa Six Months To Fix Medical-Marijuana RegulationsSource: Canadian PressAuthor: James McCarten, Canadian Press Published: Thursday, January 09, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Canadian PressRelated Articles & Web Sites:Health Canadahttp://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/Canadian Medical Associationhttp://www.cma.ca/Court Nixes Fed's Medical-Pot Regulations http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15153.shtmlFlin Flon Pot To Escape Fiery Fatehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14782.shtmlAnne 'Stalling' on Pot - Edmonton Sun http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13825.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #4 posted by mayan on January 09, 2003 at 18:24:47 PT U.S. Disapproval "Unless Ottawa appeals the ruling or comes up with a new medical-marijuana regime within six months, that law will fall, said Young, who's convinced the federal government's reluctance to relax marijuana prohibition in Canada is based on U.S. disapproval."The U.S. GOVERNMENT, that is. The U.S. government doesn't disapprove of killing it's own citizens. The U.S government is hell bent on starting WWIII so it can round up all of it's enemies(foreign & domestic). Do the right thing Canada. Do your own thing!The way out is the way in - The 9/11 Truth Alliance: http://www.falloutshelternews.com/911Inquiry.htm9/11 - Guilt In High Places: http://emperors-clothes.com/indict/911page1&2.htmMake No Mistake About It - 9/11 Was An Inside Job: http://www.voxnyc.com/archives/00000076.htmThe 9/11 Truth Movement - Selected Resources for Researchers and Activists: http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/LEV212A.htmlThe People's Investigation of 9/11: http://www.911pi.com/More 9/11 Links: http://www.keystonereport.com/911.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by The GCW on January 09, 2003 at 18:05:59 PT stuff & quotes Snoop Dogg to quit the kind http://www.hempbc.com/articles/2662.html Stoner of the Year announces he's giving up pot.Celebrity stoners http://www.hempbc.com/articles/2606.html From Cary Grant to John McEnroe, it's six stoned degrees of Scooby-Doobie-Doo!PLUS"Americans are the best entertained and the least informed people in the world." Neil Postman - "The world fears Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld, not Saddam Hussein." - "To oppose the policies of a government does not mean you are against the country or the people that the government supposedly represents. Such opposition should be called what it really is: democracy, or democratic dissent, or having a critical perspective about what your leaders are doing. Either we have the right to democratic dissent and criticism of these policies or we all lie down and let the leader, the Fuhrer, do what is best, while we follow uncritically, and obey whatever he commands. That's just what the Germans did with Hitler, and look where it got them." Michael Parenti, author"The illegal we can do right now; the unconstitutional will take a little longer." - Henry Kissinger"The United States is not only number one in military power but also in the effectiveness of its propaganda system." - Edward S. Herman, political economist and author http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/ THIRD WORLD TRAVELER (there are more) [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on January 09, 2003 at 17:14:48 PT Interesting Article from The Vancouver Sun Prescribe Heroin, Coke to Addicts: MayorLarry Campbell believes it's an option when methadone and abstinence fail. Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun Thursday, January 09, 2003 ZURICH -- Mayor Larry Campbell wants Vancouver to copy a controversial but successful Swiss program of prescribing heroin to hard-core addicts.In fact, if he had his way, they'd get cocaine prescriptions too.When social workers and drug addiction counsellors talk about the model for treating the hardest of hard-core addicts, for whom abstinence or methadone programs do not work, they all look to Switzerland for advice. That's because for the last eight years the country has operated a prescription heroin program with relative success.Complete Article: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/news/story.asp?id=%7B60C7EFF1-F269-4036-A8F9-AC4069EFE680%7D [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by p4me on January 09, 2003 at 16:59:50 PT Jesse Ventura may get talk show on MSNBC The first paragraph at http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/28067.htm reads- "January 9, 2003 -- FORMER Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is about to announce that he will host his own show on MSNBC, sources say."The New York Post is controlled by the conservative prohibitionist Rupert Murdock. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment