JUDGE RULES NO VALID FEDERAL LAW GOVERNS POT POSSESSION

DARTMOUTH, N.S. - Another drug case has ended because of controversy over
Canada's marijuana laws.

A provincial court judge in Dartmouth ruled Monday there is no valid
federal law in place governing simple possession of marijuana.

Judge Flora Buchan stayed charges against Paula Clarke, who was accused of
possessing a small amount of pot.

Given rulings in similar cases in Ontario and P.E.I. earlier this year, and
based on a previous ruling in a medical marijuana case, "it would be
oppressive and vexatious to allow a prosecution to proceed," said Buchan.

Defence lawyer Allan Doughty said although Clarke's case has nothing
specifically to do with medical marijuana, the fact that the law is not
properly written is what matters.

"The law itself is bad, and it violates her constitutional rights," he said.

Like the other recent rulings, Monday's decision came in provincial court,
which means it is not binding to other provincial court judges, either in
the province or across Canada, but it is likely they will follow suit.

The controversy dates back to 2000, when the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled
the drug law violated the rights of a man who needed pot for medical reasons.

The court gave Parliament one year to revamp the law.

Parliament has yet to make the changes and since then, some charges in
Ontario and P.E.I. have been stayed even though they did not involve
medicinal use.

Federal Crown prosecutors will consult with officials in Ottawa before
deciding if they will stay charges in all cases of simple possession
throughout the province, Justice Department spokesman Glenn Chamberlain said.

"On P.E.I., we are staying charges until the appeal is heard," he said. "We
do anticipate that in very short order we'll know whether we'll appeal the
decision, and based on that decision we'll know how to proceed with other
charges."

If the department plans to appeal, it make sense to do so for just one
case, rather than a large backlog of cases, said Chamberlain. When a charge
is stayed, the Crown has up to a year to restart the proceedings.

However, federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has said he intends to
reform the law this year and decriminalize simple possession.

In the meantime, police and RCMP both say they will continue to make
arrests for marijuana possession, but it is up to the Crown to decide
whether to take the cases to court.