OTTAWA APPEALS ONT. RULING THAT TOSSED OUT POT CHARGE

TORONTO -- Ottawa has moved quickly to end uncertainty over Canada's drug
laws by appealing an Ontario court ruling last week that threw out a
marijuana charge on a technicality.

"We were aware of the uncertainty the decision created so we thought we'd
move as quickly as possible," federal Justice Department spokes-man Jim
Leising said Friday.

Leising said the appeal was "expedited" after Justice Douglas Phillips
sided Thursday with lawyer Brian McAllister and his client, a Windsor,
Ont., teen who was charged last April with possession of marijuana.

Phillips tossed the charge after McAllister argued that Ottawa has not yet
fixed a loophole that effectively invalidates Canada's drug laws when it
comes to cases involving 30 grams or less of marijuana.

That loophole emerged two years ago when Terry Parker, an epileptic who
uses marijuana to ease his symptoms, won the right to possess pot in a
landmark decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Ottawa's response to the Parker ruling was to introduce the Medical
Marijuana Access Regulations, which are supposed to allow qualified
applicants to use marijuana for medical reasons.

But McAllister successfully argued that rather than using regulations to
close the loophole and allow marijuana's medicinal use, the government
ought to have instead drafted a whole new statute.

Notwithstanding Thursday's ruling, the act is still the law of the land in
Canada and police will proceed as usual with laying charges, Leising said.

But he conceded the Ontario judgment has created "potential for it to be
followed" by enforcement officials and the courts.