cannabisnews.com: Judge Rules No Valid Federal Law Governs Pot Judge Rules No Valid Federal Law Governs Pot Posted by CN Staff on April 01, 2003 at 09:01:06 PT By The Canadian Press Source: Canadian Press Dartmouth, N.S. - Another drug case has ended because of controversy over Canada's marijuana laws. A provincial court judge in Dartmouth ruled Monday there is no valid federal law in place governing simple possession of marijuana. Judge Flora Buchan stayed charges against Paula Clarke, who was accused of possessing a small amount of pot. Given rulings in similar cases in Ontario and P.E.I. earlier this year, and based on a previous ruling in a medical marijuana case, "it would be oppressive and vexatious to allow a prosecution to proceed," said Buchan. Defence lawyer Allan Doughty said although Clarke's case has nothing specifically to do with medical marijuana, the fact that the law is not properly written is what matters. "The law itself is bad, and it violates her constitutional rights," he said. Like the other recent rulings, Monday's decision came in provincial court, which means it is not binding to other provincial court judges, either in the province or across Canada, but it is likely they will follow suit. The controversy dates back to 2000, when the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled the drug law violated the rights of a man who needed pot for medical reasons. The court gave Parliament one year to revamp the law. Parliament has yet to make the changes and since then, some charges in Ontario and P.E.I. have been stayed even though they did not involve medicinal use. Federal Crown prosecutors will consult with officials in Ottawa before deciding if they will stay charges in all cases of simple possession throughout the province, Justice Department spokesman Glenn Chamberlain said. "On P.E.I., we are staying charges until the appeal is heard," he said. "We do anticipate that in very short order we'll know whether we'll appeal the decision, and based on that decision we'll know how to proceed with other charges." If the department plans to appeal, it make sense to do so for just one case, rather than a large backlog of cases, said Chamberlain. When a charge is stayed, the Crown has up to a year to restart the proceedings. However, federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has said he intends to reform the law this year and decriminalize simple possession. In the meantime, police and RCMP both say they will continue to make arrests for marijuana possession, but it is up to the Crown to decide whether to take the cases to court. Complete Title: Judge Rules No Valid Federal Law Governs Pot Possession From The Vancouver Sun & Canadian PressSource: Canadian Press Published: Tuesday, April 01, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Canadian PressRelated Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmN.S. Judge Stays Pot Case http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15838.shtmlPot Charges Could Be Stayed Across Canadahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15828.shtmlStay of Pot Possession Charge Under Appeal http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15786.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #4 posted by afterburner on April 25, 2003 at 20:53:27 PT: Groundswell Rights. Human rights trump civil rights, civil rights trump states rights, and states rights trump federal rights except where expressly permitted by the US Constitution. Cannabis is legal in Canada, soon to be legal in NAFTA and all its members. Every need becomes a business, and business is permitted equal access within the NAFTA member nations.ego transcendence follows ego destruction, and suddenly there is no question. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by afterburner on April 24, 2003 at 17:08:50 PT: NAFTA: "most favorable treatment" North American Free Trade Agreement http://www-tech.mit.edu/Bulletins/nafta.htmlPART TWO TRADE IN GOODS Chapter Three National Treatment and Market Access for Goods http://www-tech.mit.edu/Bulletins/Nafta/03.market Subchapter A - National TreatmentArticle 301: National Treatment1. Each Party shall accord national treatment to the goods of another Party in accordance with Article III of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT),....2. The provisions of paragraph 1 regarding national treatment shall mean, with respect to a province or state, treatment no less favorable than the most favorable treatment accorded by such province or state to any like, directly competitive or substitutable goods, as the case may be, of the Party of which it forms a part.Since cannabis is now sold in Canada in the absence of a viable federal law, cannabis becomes a NAFTA commodity and is covered by the "most favorable treatment" clause of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Thus, the Great State of California must receive most favorable treatment equivalent to the treatment currently in place in the Province of Ontario, where cannabis is legal.ego transcendence follows ego destruction, and suddenly there is no question.World Trade Agreement 1994 (establishing the WTO and including GATT Uruguay 1994) The World Trade Organization Preface l.General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 http://www.jus.uio.no/lm/wta.1994/World Trade Organization - URUGUAY ROUND AGREEMENT - Agreement on Agriculture - Annex 1: Product Coverage http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/14-ag_02_e.htm#annI1. This Agreement shall cover the following products:(i) HS Chapters 1 to 24 less fish and fish products, plus* (ii) .... HS Heading 33.01 (essential oils) .... HS Headings 52.01 to 52.03 (raw cotton, waste and cotton carded or combed) HS Heading 53.01 (raw flax) HS Heading 53.02 (raw hemp) North American Free Trade Agreement [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on April 24, 2003 at 13:06:58 PT afterburner Thank you. I am reading and checking out comments and just thinking. When CNews was down I felt really bummed out. I tried to get caught up on the articles that I felt were important to post as soon as I was able. The comments and links and opinions make CNews what I think of as a complete site. I don't know a lot about a lot of things. I spend so much time trying to make sure I don't make mistakes when I post an article that I don't get too far from doing that. Thank you and all the others that have stood by when things have gone wrong. It is all of you that help me keep going. No man or woman is an island. We need to work together to make change happen and I really believe we are. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by afterburner on April 24, 2003 at 12:53:01 PT: Cannabis Now Legal in Canada!!! This is not an April Fools' joke. This is the judicial branch of the Canadian government enforcing the rights and protections of the people of Canada under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.Only judges that are too timid or confused to protect their own constituencies could refrain from announcing unanimous judical support for this ruling.Possessing marijuana is no longer illegal for anyone in Canada, an Ontario judge ruled yesterday. In April, police arrested a 16-year-old truant in a park carrying five grams of it. He was charged with possession of marijuana.Yesterday, he was cleared of that charge when Judge Douglas Phillips of the Ontario Court in Windsor agreed with the young man's defence: Federal laws against marijuana possession are no longer valid. ....Unlike recent cases in which chronically ill defendants persuaded judges to give them access to marijuana, the teenager did not argue that he has an ailment.He used a legal opening created in 2000, when an Ontario Court of Appeal judge ruled Canada's marijuana-possession law invalid because it did not allow Terry Parker, an epileptic, and other chronically ill people to smoke it to lessen their symptoms.The judge, however, delayed that ruling's effect for one year in hope that the government would introduce a medicinal-marijuana law.But the government did not. Instead, the cabinet issued regulations for access to medicinal marijuana one day before the year-long grace period ended.....In his decision, Judge Phillips wrote that "this is simply not the sort of matter that Parliament can legitimately delegate to the federal cabinet, a Crown minister or administrative agency."He says in the 16-page ruling that the appeal court's declaration that struck down marijuana-possession laws "is now effectively in place."Advocates for the use of marijuana seized on Judge Phillips's decision swiftly."Since Parliament did not appeal the Parker decision and did not amend the law, there is currently no law against possession of cannabis in Ontario," Ontario Consumers for Safe Access to Recreational Cannabis says in a statement.-Pot Possession Not Illegal, Judge Rules http://cannabisnews.com/news/15/thread15099.shtml The only question remaining is: what is the status on the supply-side of the former cannabis law? Answer: Ontario Superior Court ruled that Ottawa's regulations for medical users are unconstitutional because patients have no access to a legal supply of the drug. -Pot Regulations Violate Charter: Ontario Court http://cannabisnews.com/news/15/thread15158.shtml ego transcendence follows ego destruction, and suddenly there is no question. Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [ Post Comment ] Post Comment