 | NORML News: Canadian courts rule pot law invalid |
 NORML News Autumn 2003
Several recent court rulings in Canada have opened up the possibility of cannabis becoming legal by default, as the government has failed to meet a deadline to introduce a law allowing medical use.
In 2000 the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled Canada’s possession law invalid because it did not allow chronically ill people to use cannabis as medicine. The court delayed the ruling’s taking effect for a year, giving the government time to introduce a medical marijuana law.
The government failed to act, and instead the cabinet issued regulations for access to medical marijuana the day before the deadline expired.
The regulations have actually made it harder for patients to access cannabis, so they have been declared unconstitutional by Justice Sidney Lederman of Ontario Superior Court.
Health Canada has issued hundreds of permits to patients and assured them they can obtain medical marijuana by growing it themselves, having a designated person grow it for them, or possibly acquiring it from a licensed supplier in the future. But because the government has not done its part, many have had to turn to the illegal market.
“The result is at odds with both drug control and compassionate access objectives,” Judge Lederman said. “The Medical Marijuana Access Regulations throws up so many barriers to access for medicinal use that it effectively remains unavailable to many seriously ill people. Laws which put seriously ill, vulnerable people in a position where they have to deal with the criminal underworld to obtain medicine they have been authorized to take violate the constitutional right to security of the person.”
Another interesting development in Canadian cannabis law has nothing to do with medical use. Last April police arrested a 16-year-old with 5 grams of pot and charged him with possession. His lawyer argued that new laws by Parliament had been called for and not enacted; therefore, marijuana possession laws were invalid. Judge Douglas Phillips agreed, saying the appeal court’s declaration that struck down marijuana possession laws “is now effectively in place.” Since Parliament did not appeal the decision and did not amend the law, there is currently no law against possession of cannabis in Ontario.
“Parliament now has a chance to either bring in a marijuana decriminalisation bill or just let the laws die judicially,” said Alan Young, a prominent Canadian lawyer and law reform advocate.
Late last year the Canadian Senate special committee on illicit drugs recommended a regulated system of licensed and taxed cannabis sales, while the lower house committee said cannabis should be decriminalised but not fully legalised.
The Canadian government responded by saying it will change the law to allow people caught with up to 30g (1oz) to be given a ticket instead of being arrested.
Justice Minister Martin Cauchon said “the criminal law is a blunt tool; it is only effective if it is applied consistently and if it reflects true social consensus on an issue.”
A recent poll of 1000 Canadians found 69% believe possession of small amounts of marijuana should be decriminalised.
|
|
|
|
| |
| Login |
|
You can register for some special extra features. | |
| Article Rating |
Average Score: 2
Votes: 2
| |
|
