cannabisnews.com: Date Set for Court Pot Challenge





Date Set for Court Pot Challenge
Posted by CN Staff on March 24, 2003 at 10:55:29 PT
By Dan Ferguson 
Source: Surrey Leader 
A former Surrey Marijuana Party Candidate and pot activists’ Supreme Court challenge of the constitutionality of Canada’s pot laws has been scheduled for May 6 in Ottawa. It’s the last stop in what has been a lengthy legal battle for Randy Caine, the Marijuana Party Candidate for the Surrey-Panorama Ridge provincial riding who was convicted in 1993 for the possession of a half-smoked joint in White Rock. 
A 10-year-resident of Surrey before he moved to Langley, Caine used to run The Joint coffee shop “hemporium” in Fleetwood which was shut down after a well-publicized series of run-ins with Surrey city hall. Caine’s case is one of three to be heard together by the high court, which originally planned to deal with the issue in December of 2002, but was postponed because of reports the federal government was planning to introduce legislation to decriminalize marijuana. Federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon made front-page headlines when he told reporters Ottawa intended to move ahead with decriminalization “within the first four months of the New Year (2003).” While there has been speculation about possible new federal laws, nothing official has been announced since then. Caine’s lawyer, John Conroy, said he hopes there are no further postponements and the case proceeds as planned. If the government does decriminalize pot, Conroy said the legislation should include an amnesty for people previously convicted. Source: Surrey Leader (CN BC)Author: Dan Ferguson Published: March 23, 2003Copyright: 2003 Surrey LeaderContact: newsroom surreyleader.comWebsite: http://www.surreyleader.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmThe Coming Canadian Drug Revolutionhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15192.shtmlCanadian Judge Calls Possession Law Invalid http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15116.shtmlWhy Cannabis Should Be Legal http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14045.shtml 
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on March 24, 2003 at 14:06:04 PT
News Brief -- AP World Politics 
Italian MEP Spends Weekend in Jail Over Marijuana Protest Monday, March 24, 2003LONDON - An Italian member of the European Parliament said Monday that he spent the weekend in jail in Manchester for refusing to pay a fine related to a protest against marijuana laws.  Marco Cappato, 32, of Milan, a member of Italy's Radical Party, was arrested on Dec. 20 when he and Liberal Democrat Chris Davies of Britain walked into Stockport police station with a small amount of marijuana. After being charged for possession and spending a night in jail, Cappato was charged at Stockport Magistrates Court the next day. He was convicted of possession on Jan. 21 and agreed to pay court costs of 2,200 pounds (US$3,500) but refused to pay a fine of 100 pounds (US$160), and was sentenced to seven days in prison. Greater Manchester police said Cappato was charged because he refused to accept a caution, and jailed because he refused to sign the bail sheet. "This was a civil disobedience action in support of others," Cappato said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "I submitted myself to the consequences of the law to help push forward public opinion in Britain, where drug laws are in breach of international conventions on drugs. Unfortunately, nobody noticed because of the war." 
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