ONTARIO JUDGE STRIKES DOWN MEDICAL MARIJUANA RULES

Ontario is one step closer to the legalization of marijuana after the
Ontario Superior Court struck down two key parts of the Controlled
Drugs and Substances Act that prohibit the possession and production
of pot.

The court declared the rules that govern medical marijuana access and
the prohibitions laid out in Sections 4 and 7 of the act
"constitutionally invalid and of no force and effect" Monday,
effectively paving the way for legalization.

If Ottawa does not respond within 90 days with a successful delay or
re-regulation of marijuana, the drug will be legal to possess and
produce in Ontario, where the decision is binding.

The ruling stemmed from the constitutional challenge of Matthew
Mernagh, a man who relies on medical marijuana to ease pain brought on
by fibromyalgia, scoliosis, seizures and depression.

The Ontario Court of Appeal had previously recognized that to deprive
someone with a serious illness of medical marijuana if it relieves
their pain is a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

As a result of that, the federal government created the Marijuana
Medical Access Regulations to let people legally get, possess and grow
marijuana if they have a licence supported by a medical doctor.

However, Justice Donald Taliano wrote in his decision on Monday that
Mernagh has been unable to get a doctor to sign off on a medical
marijuana licence.

Mernagh's criminal charge is permanently stayed, Taliano wrote in his
ruling, and he is granted a "personal exemption" to buy or produce
marijuana during the 90 days given to the government in order to
submit its challenge.