ANOTHER COURT RULES AGAINST MARIJUANA LAWS

TORONTO - Another day, another court ruling against Canadian laws on
marijuana use.

A judge in Toronto on Friday threw out a charge against a man who had a
small amount of marijuana. The court ruling said, in effect, the law is no
longer valid. In the summer of 2000, the Ontario Court of Appeal said parts
of Canada's drug laws are unconstitutional. It gave Ottawa a year to change
the legislation.

But Parliament didn't act.

Aaron Harnett, the defence attorney in Friday's case in Toronto, called the
ruling "another stake in the heart of marijuana laws."

On Thursday, a court in Toronto ruled that medical marijuana laws in this
country are unconstitutional.

And last Friday, in Windsor, Ont., a judge threw out a charge of simple
possession of marijuana.

The Crown has said it will appeal the Windsor case. It hasn't said what it
will do with the rulings in Toronto.

Written by CBC News Online staff