SOME JUDGES GIVE LIGHT SENTENCES FOR POT INFRACTIONS

REGINA -- Although Saskat-chewan courts have ruled Canada's law against the
possession of marijuana is still in effect here, some judges are giving out
the most lenient sentences possible.

Earlier this week, provincial court Judge Diane Morris gave a 43-year-old
Regina man an absolute discharge after he pleaded guilty to possession of
14 grams of marijuana.

It's the latest in a series of cases where Saskatchewan judges have made
reference to the changing landscape of marijuana laws in Canada.

An absolute discharge is the mildest sentence available when there is a
conviction and results in no criminal record if the offender didn't have
one previously.

Last month, another Regina judge gave a man caught with 50 grams of
marijuana an absolute discharge after he pleaded guilty.

Morris said the discharge she ordered was appropriate "due to the
developments in this area of the law."

That's presumably a reference to recent Ontario court decisions where
marijuana charges have been thrown out as well as to the federal
government's plan to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of the drug.

Currently, the maximum penalty for possession of less than 30 grams is a
six-month jail term and a $1,000 fine.

But under legislation introduced May 27 by federal Justice Minister Martin
Cauchon, possession of up to 15 grams of pot would be a minor offence,
fines would be reduced and jail wouldn't be an option.

Parliament, which has adjourned for the summer, has yet to pass the
proposed law.

In the meantime, an Ontario Superior Court ruling has effectively struck
down the law against simple possession in that province.

On May 16, a Windsor Superior Court judge upheld a lower-court decision
that found there was no law banning possession of marijuana of less than 30
grams, due to the federal government's failure to comply with a previous
court ruling.

In response, police forces across Ontario announced they would not lay
marijuana possession charges until there was a decision from the Ontario
Court of Appeal. In several recent cases, Ontario judges have simply thrown
out possession charges.

In Saskatchewan, the courts have recently taken a look at the applicability
of the federal pot law to this province -- and have come to different
conclusions.

In April, Moose Jaw legal aid lawyer Merv Shaw asked provincial court Judge
David Orr to declare the marijuana possession law "no longer in effect or
force" with respect to three men charged with offences under the Controlled
Drugs and Substances Act.

Orr ruled the marijuana laws are fully in force in Saskatchewan and the
prosecutions of the three would continue.

Federal Crown prosecutor Hal Wellsch, who handled the marijuana case that
resulted in the absolute discharge Thursday, said pot prosecutions will
continue while the existing law remains in place.

Wellsch noted that while absolute or conditional discharges are fairly
common for pot possession in Regina, some offenders have received hefty
fines in other courts around the province.