cannabisnews.com: Ontario Court Reinstates Pot Law





Ontario Court Reinstates Pot Law
Posted by CN Staff on October 07, 2003 at 12:49:39 PT
By Gillian Livingston
Source: Canadian Press 
Toronto -- Canada's law against possessing small amounts of pot came back into effect Tuesday after the Ontario Court of Appeal struck down parts of Ottawa's medicinal marijuana program. Federal regulations governing the program unfairly restrict qualified users in getting the drug, the court found. But it stopped short of the true goal for many marijuana advocates: striking down the law in its entirety. 
Instead, the three-judge panel nimbly singled out as unconstitutional specific provisions of the federal Marijuana Medical Access Regulations, or MMARs, leaving users to celebrate only a partial victory. "That little gap that we had in Ontario where the law did not exist and police could not arrest you for smoking is over," lawyer Alan Young said outside court. "Ultimately, I would prefer just to get rid of the law and let people take care of themselves as they see fit. That didn't happen today, but at least the court has given sick people some greater tools to be self-sufficient."  The provisions in question restricted licensed growers from receiving compensation for their product, growing the drug for more than one qualified patient and pooling resources with other licensed producers. The ruling also struck down a requirement that sick people get two doctors to validate their need to use marijuana as a drug. "This narrow remedy would create a constitutionally valid medical exemption, making marijuana prohibition . . . immediately constitutionally valid and of full force and effect and removing any uncertainty concerning the validity of the prohibition," said a synopsis of the ruling issued by the court. In other words, the ruling reinstates laws that were effectively suspended in Ontario earlier this year when a judge ruled that possessing less than 30 grams of pot was no longer against the law in the province. The decision is encouraging because it will allow medicinal growers to produce a higher-quality drug in greater quantities, said Alison Myrden, a medicinal user and longtime marijuana crusader. But Myrden, who is licensed to smoke marijuana to alleviate symptoms of chronic progressive multiple sclerosis and other severe ailments, admitted she was disappointed that the law survived. "I'm pleased with it in one respect because sick people again collectively will have the opportunity to grow together; we have an opportunity there to make medicine en masse for sick and dying people in this country," Myrden said as she sat outside court in her wheelchair, smoking a joint. "But my recreational friends are going to get burned in a way that I'm not happy with at all. So I don't think that's fair." The ruling agreed with a lower court ruling in January that found the regulations were unconstitutional because they forced qualified users to either grow their own pot or buy it on the black market. "Many of these individuals are not only seriously ill, they are also significantly physically handicapped and therefore cannot possibly grow their own marijuana," the synopsis said. "A scheme that authorizes possession of marijuana by seriously ill individuals but which drives some of them to the black market . . . undermines the rule of law and fails to create a constitutionally valid medical exemption to the criminal prohibition against marijuana." Officials from the federal government could not immediately be reached for comment on the ruling. The decision in January by Ontario Court Justice Sidney Lederman left Canada's pot possession laws in tatters because it made it impossible to permit medicinal use while prohibiting possession for everyone else. Lederman gave the government a July 9 deadline to either fix the regulations or supply the pot itself to users of medical marijuana. Ottawa then instituted an interim policy that would see it sell pot at set prices to approved users, but also launched an appeal of the ruling, saying it shouldn't be forced to provide a legal source of marijuana. The initial lawsuit was launched by seven Canadians with various medical conditions, along with their caregiver, who demanded the federal government provide a safe and reliable source of medical marijuana. Source: Canadian Press Author: Gillian LivingstonPublished: Tuesday, October 7, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Canadian PressRelated Articles & Web Sites:Canadians for Safe Accesshttp://www.safeaccess.ca/The Medical Marijuana Missionhttp://www.themarijuanamission.com/Ont. Court Fixes Ottawa's Medicinal Pot Programhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17488.shtmlOnt. Appeals Court Rejects Federal Pot Ruleshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17487.shtmlOttawa Must Make Access To Pot Easierhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17486.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on October 08, 2003 at 12:46:20 PT
Great Job Alison!
If you read this you did a great job! 
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on October 08, 2003 at 12:34:48 PT
Heads Up: Alison Myrden on Radio 8-03 at 3:30 EDT 
Alison Myrden on 1510 KCTE KC, MO October 8/03 2:30 local, 3:30 EDT Alison Myrden said:I have been asked to go LIVE on this Radio station tomorrow (Wednesday, October. 8, 2003) at 3:30 pm, my time. Just thought you guys would be interested. I will be on with a woman named Laura someone (?) who is in full favor of Legalization of Cannbis in the USA.Should be fun, they are excited... ;o)Hot Talk 1510 KCTE Kansas Cityhttp://www.1510.com/Click on the "listen live" link 
 
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on October 07, 2003 at 21:39:20 PT
Alison Myrden on Radio 8-03 at 3:30 EDT
Alison Myrden on 1510 KCTE KC, MO October 8/03 2:30 local, 3:30 EDT    
 Alison Myrden said:I have been asked to go LIVE on this Radio station tomorrow 
(Wednesday, October. 8, 2003) at 3:30 pm, my time. Just thought you guys would be interested. I will be on with a woman named Laura someone (?) who is in full favor of Legalization of Cannbis in the USA.Should be fun, they are excited... ;o)Hot Talk 1510 KCTE Kansas Cityhttp://www.1510.com/Click on the "listen live" link
 
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on October 07, 2003 at 16:08:30 PT:
Ottawa jumped out of the frying pan
and landed flat on it's arse in the burner.The prohibitionist pols think that things can 'go back to normal', huh? Well, the standard for normality has changed. When the still sitting PM makes light of cannabis laws as being silly and foolish, having been heard by millions who agree, then the climate has changed, indeed. The battle has just been engaged, and although the more odious laws will remain...for now...they will soon be overtaken by the simple fact that many Canadians want them gone.The first skirmish goes to cannabists. The Canuck MMJ laws have been modified the way they should have been. It's only a matter of time...Very often, something that is dying will rally for a bit, before final curtains. Prohibitionists may think they are safe in crowing, but they will be crying before long. I don't give Canadian MJ prohibition more than 2 years. And the proof of safety will be in the numbers of surviving MMJ patients who would be DEAD without cannabis. That kind of living proof is too strong to stand against the lies.
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