SMOKING POT NO SERIOUS RISK, VANCOUVER ACTIVIST TO ARGUE IN SUPREME COURT

Vancouver marijuana activist David Malmo-Levine is scheduled to be in
Ottawa today to appear before a panel of Supreme Court of Canada judges in
an attempt to strike down Canada's marijuana law.

He will argue that the law making it illegal to possess marijuana violates
his constitutional rights because smoking pot does not pose a serious risk
of harm to the user or society.

Two other companion cases -- one from B.C., the other from Ontario -- also
will be heard as part of a constitutional challenge to Canada's marijuana laws.

It will be the first time the court has considered the constitutional
validity of the law prohibiting possession of marijuana.

Six judges of appeal courts in B.C. and Ontario have already ruled that the
possession and use of marijuana does not pose a serious risk to users or
society. But the courts decided the issue was best left to Parliament.

The trio of appeals challenge Parliament's power to create such a law. The
crucial question the court must answer: Is the harm of smoking or
possessing marijuana sufficient to permit criminalization?

"We're trying to establish the limits of criminal law power," explained
Abbotsford lawyer John Conroy, who will represent another B.C. man, Victor
Eugene Caine, in the nation's highest court. Malmo-Levine and Caine take
the position that the law against possession of marijuana violates their
right to life, liberty and security of the person under Section 7 of the
Charter.

Also to be heard will be the appeal of Christopher James Clay, a former
operator of a hemp boutique in London, Ont., who was convicted in 1997 of
possession and trafficking charges.

The appeals had been scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court last Dec.
13 but at the start of the hearing, after a brief discussion, the court
decided to adjourn the appeals to the spring session to see if Parliament
would decriminalize pot possession.

Federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has said Canada is about to change
the marijuana law, possibly within months.

The court found the minister was sending conflicting messages at the same
time as a lawyer representing the attorney-general of Canada was trying to
convince the court that possession of pot should remain illegal.

The government still has not announced what it plans to do or how much pot
a person could possess without the risk of getting a criminal record.