MAN PLANS TO APPEAL MARIJUANA POSSESSION RULING

A 49-year-old man who tried to get his drug charges quashed by arguing
marijuana possession laws were invalid for six years has filed an
application with the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Mark MacDonald says the judged erred in her decision "on pretty well
everything," he told The Examiner on Wednesday.

Earlier this month in Superior Court of Justice, Mr. Justice Cory A.
Gilmore rejected any notion that marijuana possession had been deleted
from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act by a court ruling in 2000.

Gilmore, in a written decision, also agreed with the Crown that
MacDonald had no standing to make such an argument in superior court
and the "proper forum" is at trial in Ontario Court of Justice.

Gilmore dismissed the application "with prejudice."

"The application is prohibited from bringing any further application
before the hearing of his trial on the substantive charges herein,"
she wrote.

MacDonald's case is still before the courts. He was charged with
possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and some
firearms offences in December 2008.

MacDonald was charged before Health Canada approved him for a medical
marijuana licence.

MacDonald was given another extension in court Wednesday. He told the
judge he's still appealing to Legal Aid to let him change lawyers.

Mr. Justice Robert Beninger told MacDonald he needs to bring written
proof that he's filed an appeal with Legal Aid when he's back in court
Nov. 24.