NATIONAL CANNABIS CRUSADER AVOIDS PROSECUTION IN REGINA

A legal loophole has allowed a national cannabis crusader, who
brazenly lit a marijuana pipe on the steps of the Regina police
station, to avoid prosecution.

The loophole affected about 10 to 15 federal prosecutions in Regina,
and an estimated 4,000 cases across Canada.

Marc Emery, 45, is a well-known marijuana activist and dealer, leader
of the B.C. Marijuana Party and publisher of Cannabis Culture magazine.

Emery pleaded not guilty to a charge of possessing under 30 grams of
the drug stemming from a July 12, 2003 incident in which he lit a
marijuana pipe on the steps of the Regina police station with several
officers looking on.

Emery, who has spearheaded similar protests across Canada, was
arrested and spent seven hours in police cells.

A stay of proceedings was declared on the charge against Emery because
the simple possession section of the Controlled Drugs and Substances
Act (CDSA) was ruled unconstitutional for a short period of time.

It's based on an Oct. 7, 2003, decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal
which said "the regulations under the CDSA hadn't met the concerns
that the Ontario courts had raised with respect to medical marijuana
usage," said Regina lawyer Hal Wellsch, agent for the federal Crown.

An Ontario Superior Court judge had ruled there was no current ban on
simple possession of marijuana in Ontario because the federal
government failed to comply with an earlier court order to make
medical marijuana available.

As a result, Wellsch said the Ontario Court of Appeal declared that
from July 2001 to Oct. 7, 2003 the simple possession of marijuana
section was in breach of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The
federal government didn't appeal the ruling.

"Therefore, those charges (against Emery) were not valid ... that's
the ruling we're going by," Wellsch said.

Since then, the simple possession charge has been clarified.

"The Ontario Court of Appeal effectively made changes to the
regulations, judicially, which then reinstated the validity of charges
after (Oct. 7, 2003)," Wellsch said.

Emery, who lives in Vancouver and sells marijuana seeds through his
Web site, could not be reached for comment Monday.