cannabisnews.com: Court Hears Appeal That Could Alter Pot Possession Court Hears Appeal That Could Alter Pot Possession Posted by CN Staff on July 29, 2003 at 17:28:41 PT By Tara Brautigam, Canadian Press Source: Canadian Press Toronto -- A battle to determine whether the federal government should be required to provide medicinal marijuana began Tuesday, proceedings that could alter Canada's pot possession laws. Crown lawyer Croft Michaelson argued in the Ontario Court of Appeal that a ruling by an Ontario Superior Court justice that the federal government is required to set up a distribution scheme for medicinal marijuana should be overturned. He said Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees one's right to life, liberty and security of the person, does not require the government to dispense pot. "Section 7 does not require the government to establish a legal source of unproved drugs because individuals choose to use them," Michaelson told a panel of three justices. "There's a real possibility that at the end of the day, there's going to be a vacuum that the government is going to have to fill," he added, referring to the 400-plus federally approved marijuana users. In January, Ontario Superior Court Justice Sidney Lederman ruled it was unfair for the federal government to allow people to smoke medicinal marijuana but put them in a position where they have to buy it from drug dealers because Ottawa provides no legal access to cannabis. He gave the government until July 9 to fix the regulations or supply the pot itself. "He's erred in requiring the government to establish a safe, legal supply," Michaelson told justices David Doherty, Stephen Goudge and Janet Simmons. "This case is not about deprivation." He also said Canada's global reputation is at stake. "The consensus in the international community is that marijuana should not be used as a therapeutic product," he said. Outside court, lawyer Alan Young, who is arguing for the appeal, said such a notion should be dismissed. "The international community is yawning through our Canadian debate," he said. "Medical marijuana is not an issue in most of the western world because they have decriminalized marijuana." Young cited the Netherlands, Australia, Switzerland and England as examples of countries where criminal sanctions against pot users have been lifted. "You can only have a recreational prohibition if you take care of sick people," he said. "We're here today to tell the court they're not taking care of sick people properly." In court, Young said the manner by which medicinal marijuana users have to obtain the drug is "Kafka-esque" because of the difficulty some have in finding two specialists willing to approve of the use of pot. "The Crown is trying to defend forcing people into the black market," Young said. He said the federal government needs to take the initiative because the private sector isn't yet involved in distributing marijuana. "Physicians aren't interested because most of medicine in this country involves pharmaceuticals, synthetic products and not plant products," he said. "No one wants to get involved because no one's figured out how to make money yet." The hearing continues Wednesday. Complete Title: Court Hears Appeal That Could Alter Pot Possession and Distribution LawsSource: Canadian Press Author: Tara Brautigam, Canadian Press Published: Tuesday, July 29, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Canadian PressRelated Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmPot Laws May Go Up in Smoke http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16965.shtmlOttawa's Marijuana May Go To Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16948.shtmlOttawa Unveils Interim Medical Marijuana Deal http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16797.shtmlPot Regulations Violate Charter: Ontario Courthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15158.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #7 posted by freedom fighter on July 29, 2003 at 22:30:07 PT The Magic 7 "The consensus in the international community is that marijuana should not be used as a therapeutic product," he said. Funny, that he should mention that... What better consensus you can get from your southern neighbors?? 80% of Americans think otherwise.. Just stop listenin to those 20%.. They think they are in power but they aren't."Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees one's right to life, liberty and security of the person"Magic!This is good.... Would love to get the court transcripit....I do'nt trust the media and would love to hear word for word... pace!ff [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on July 29, 2003 at 18:52:08 PT NoahTao If you check the search link I'm posting you'll see we have three up. Thanks for bringing the article to my attention though. I do miss articles. http://www.cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=DNA [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by noahtao on July 29, 2003 at 18:47:10 PT: article I just saw that the date of the article was the 25th. So you probably did post it. I put the link anyway just in case. http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030725/D7SGDN581.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on July 29, 2003 at 18:38:18 PT NoahTao Copy and paste the link in a comment and I'll check it out. We have a few articles posted on the DNA story so it might be the same article in a different paper. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by NoahTao on July 29, 2003 at 18:25:32 PT: HOW DO I POST AN ARTICLE? I found an article related to Cannabis DNA testing. How do I post it? [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by i420 on July 29, 2003 at 17:39:30 PT NOT He also said Canada's global reputation is at stake. "The consensus in the international community is that marijuana should not be used as a therapeutic product," he said. You would not believe the admiration of our citizen's for Canada on this issue.Only the Bush administration feels this way about Canada and the medical use. Myself this makes me want to put a Canadian flag on my porch. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on July 29, 2003 at 17:30:07 PT Here We Go! I hope it is the beginning of the end! [ Post Comment ] Post Comment