ONTARIO COURT STRIKES DOWN MARIJUANA LAW; GIVES OTTAWA YEAR TO CLARIFY IT

TORONTO (CP) - Ontario's highest court has declared the law prohibiting the
possession of marijuana unconstitutional and has given Ottawa a year to
amend it. The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled Monday that Canada's marijuana
law fails to recognize that people who suffer from chronic illnesses can use
pot as medicine.

As a result, the court ruled that if Ottawa does not clarify the law within
12 months the law prohibiting marijuana possession in Ontario will be struck
down, which could eventually lead to similar challenges across the country.

In the meantime however, possession of marijuana in Canada is still illegal,
and the law remains in full force and effect.

The ruling was part of a decision which upheld a lower court judge's
decision that has allowed an epileptic Toronto man to smoke pot for the past
three years.

Terry Parker, 44, said marijuana has virtually alleviated the 15 to 80
weekly seizures he suffered for about 40 years as a symptom of his illness.

"The decision will open doors across the country for sick Canadians who need
pot to help alleviate symptoms such as nausea and vomiting," said Parker's
lawyer, Aaron Harnett.

Under Canada's Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, it is illegal to possess
and cultivate marijuana. People who need it for medicinal purposes can apply
for exemptions.

The court is asking that the exemption be written into the law, to prevent
unnecessary charges against sick people, like Parker, said Harnett.

Parker has not had a seizure since December 1997, when Judge Patrick
Sheppard stayed charges of marijuana cultivation and possession against him,
ruling that Canada's marijuana law violated Parker's rights to liberty and
security, and was therefore unconstitutional.

"I am quite ecstatic, I'm grateful and I'm glad to see the court recognize
marijuana as a medical application," he said outside the court Monday.

The decision is an "enormous victory," for the medicinal marijuana movement
which maintains pot can ease nausea and stimulate appetites in people who
suffer from symptoms of epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, AIDS, and other
diseases, said Harnett.

Although demands placed on the federal government refer only to medicinal
use of marijuana, all Ontarians could be allowed to smoke pot in 12 months
if nothing is done, said Alan Young, an Osgoode Hall law professor.

"The whole (marijuana) law is tainted by the failure of Parliament to have
meaningful process whereby people can use the illicit substance as
medicine."

If Ottawa fails to change the law - as was the case after the Supreme Court
of Canada in 1986 struck down a criminal ban on abortion - marijuana
possession will be legal in Ontario.

"If (Parliament) doesn't amend the law and rectify the problem . . .
everyone will be entitled to smoke marijuana legally within the next 12
months," said Young.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said Monday the decision was
being reviewed. The government has 30 days to decide whether they will
appeal the decision.

Meanwhile an aide to Ontario Attorney General Jim Flaherty said the province
doesn't relish the prospect of being left without a law.

It is the "hope and expectation" that Ontario "is not left in the lurch,"
said Bronwen Evans.

In another ruling released Monday, the court upheld a lower court decision
that prohibited Young's client, Chris Clay, a London, Ont., man from
possessing pot for recreational purposes.

Clay had been seeking to legalize recreational marijuana, claiming that pot
has no harmful side effects and that criminalization of the drug poses a
greater danger to the public.

The federal government first gave permission for the cultivation and use of
marijuana for medical purposes in May, 1999, when Rock granted exemptions to
Jim Wakeford of Toronto, and Jean-Charles Pariseau of Vanier, Ont., both of
whom have AIDS.

Since then, Ottawa has given about 35 Canadians similar exemptions, allowing
them to possess, cultivate and use marijuana to treat AIDS-related symptoms.

When contacted Monday, Wakeford said he was "encouraged," by the Ontario
court's decision.

"This is encouraging and I hope it will help me and other people," he said.