ONTARIO COURT STRIKES DOWN MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW

TORONTO - An Ontario court Thursday ruled that Canada's medical marijuana
laws are unconstitutional and gave Ottawa just six months to change them.

While Ottawa allows certain people to use marijuana for medicinal purposes,
but it's still illegal to buy it and the government doesn't provide the drug.

The case involved a group of people who use pot to deal with their various
illnesses.

Terrence Parker, who has epilepsy, represented himself in the suit he filed
jointly with the rest of the group. He says before he started smoking
marijuana he would have between five and 80 seizures day.

He says in the five years since he's been legally allowed to smoke pot,
he's only had one.

Thursday's judgment is the seventh time Parker has won in court in his 20
years of fighting Canada's marijuana laws. But he said the victory was hollow.

"Instead of playing ball with the government, just simply legalize it,"
said Parker.

But Leora Shemesh, one of the lawyers representing others in the suit, says
she's happy with the ruling.

"If he strikes it down with no time for the government, then he's just
struck down the entire marijuana law, period," said Shemesh.

The ruling gives Ottawa six months to revise the medical marijuana laws or
every court in Ontario will ignore them.

"In six months, either the regulations are going to change to allow for the
government to start supplying or the government's going to start
supplying," said Shemesh.

The government could appeal the decision, as it has done with similar lower
court rulings. Thursday night, Health Canada and the Justice Department
said they would get together soon to review the judgment.

Written by CBC News Online staff