RULING SIGNALS CHANGE IN MARIJUANA LAW

If Federal Government Doesn't Respond Within 90 Days, Drug Will Be
Legal to Possess in Ontario

When Nick Bala started chemotherapy, he asked his doctor for something
to help with the nausea and vomiting that followed each treatment.

After about four months, Bala asked his doctor for a prescription for
medicinal marijuana.

"I found that it made a huge difference to the nausea," Bala said
Wednesday. "For me and many other people, it made chemotherapy much
more bearable. It's very important this be made available to people
who are suffering."

An Ontario court ruling this week may make that reality sooner rather
than later.

An Ontario Superior Court judge found marijuana cultivation and usage
laws unconstitutional and gave the federal government three months to
respond to the decision.

But Bala isn't leaping for joy yet, knowing that the government may
appeal the ruling.

"This could be before the courts for years," said Bala, a law
professor at Queen's University.

On Monday, the Ontario Superior Court declared the rules that govern
medical marijuana access and the prohibitions laid out in sections 4
and 7 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act "constitutionally
invalid and of no force and effect," effectively paving the way for
legalization. If the government 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.