SUPREME COURT TO RULE ON MARIJUANA BAN

Imposing Jail Time, Criminal Record Violates Rights, Litigants Argue

The Supreme Court of Canada will decide today whether simple possession of
marijuana should be a crime.

The long-awaited rulings in three cases will be the Supreme Court's first
test of the constitutionality of the country's 80-year-old ban on marijuana
possession.

"This is very significant," said Chris Clay, a B.C. web-page designer who
owned the Great Canadian Hemporium marijuana paraphernalia and seed store
in London, Ont., before police shut it down.

Mr. Clay, 32, laughed at the prospect of sticking a bit of weed in the
Christmas pudding if the ruling goes his way. He is one of three litigants
who argue that threatening people with a criminal record and jail time for
what they contend is a victimless crime breaches Charter of Rights
guarantees of life, liberty and security of the person.

The federal Justice Department counters that the Supreme Court should give
Parliament as much leeway as possible in crafting drug policy.

"All three appellants seek to elevate a recreational pursuit to a
constitutional right," federal lawyer David Frankel says in a written
submission to the Supreme Court. "There is no free-standing right to get
stoned."

A key question in the appeal is whether the government must demonstrate a
serious health risk if it wants to continue to ban marijuana possession.

The state has "no right to tell people what they can put in their bodies,"
lawyer John Conroy argued at the Supreme Court hearing last spring.

"Where do you draw the line?" asked Mr. Conroy, lawyer for litigant Victor
Caine, who was convicted of possession. "Are fatty foods going to be next?
The obesity problem is a lot worse than the drug problem."

The much anticipated judgment from the Supreme Court comes as the federal
government plans to reintroduce a hotly debated bill to decriminalize
possession of marijuana in small amounts. People caught with small amounts
would be given fines instead.

Justice Minister Irwin Cotler stressed that lawmakers oppose giving
marijuana users free rein. "This is how Parliament has spoken on this
question and we will wait to see what the court will say," he said.

Prime Minister Paul Martin said last week that the government will revive
the marijuana bill, which died in November when Parliament was prorogued.
The government's proposal, however, could be a watered-down version of the
former bill, which proposed to decriminalize possession of 15 grams or
less, about the equivalent of 15 cigarettes.

Despite its plans, the government has filed a report with the Supreme Court
that connects marijuana use to driving accidents, upper-airway cancer,
psychiatric problems and drug addiction, among other things.

"Marijuana is not a benign substance and potentially is more harmful than
presently known," says the Justice Department's submission.

Several judges during the spring hearing were frosty to the arguments of
the marijuana lobby. But they also challenged the government's assertion
that it can criminalize any behaviour it sees fit, as long as the decision
is a rational one.