MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATE CELEBRATES LEGAL VICTORY

The man in the middle of a court case that could see Canada's pot laws
go up in smoke celebrated the landmark ruling by turning his green
thumbs back to cultivating medical marijuana.

St. Catharines native Matthew Mernagh said he planted some germinated
marijuana seeds Tuesday night, hours after learning a judge threw out
pot production and possession charges against him and deemed the
federal medical marijuana program unconstitutional.

"I'm starting already," Mernagh said Wednesday morning. "There's no
reason for me to wait. I'm exempt from the marijuana law. I'm not
going to wait."

Mernagh, 37, who now lives in Toronto, said he was still struggling to
come to grips with the fact he had won a three-year legal battle and
that the ruling might pave the way for people across the country to
get easier access to pot for medicinal purposes.

"It looks like it's really going to benefit a lot of people. It's just
unbelievable," he said. "It's just starting to sink in."

In a 109-page written judgement, St. Catharines Superior Court Judge
Donald Taliano found Canada's medical marijuana program fails to give
legal access to sick people who need the drug, largely because many
family doctors refuse to endorse the required paperwork on behalf of
patients.

Taliano struck down Canada's laws against possessing and growing
marijuana as part of the ruling and gave Ottawa three months to
overhaul the medical marijuana program or effectively legalize
possession and production of pot.

Mernagh, who suffers from severe osteoarthritis, was also granted
exemption from marijuana production and possession laws while the
government fixes the medical pot program.

The judge also permanently stayed charges against Mernagh, stemming
from his 2008 arrest when Niagara police seized 70 pot plants from his
St. Catharines apartment.

"It's a personal victory, but the judge has said (to the government)
you've got 90 days to fix this," Mernagh said.

"They're going to have to deal with this and they're going to have to
deal with it in a positive way."

Mernagh, a marijuana rights activist and blogger, vowed to celebrate
his victory in his hometown by parading along the city's main downtown
street with a crop of pot.

"When I come back down to St. Catharines, I'm going to be marching
down St. Paul St. with pot plants. I'm getting a wagon and I'm putting
pot plants on it," he said.

"It'll be fun. I'm hoping other people come out and join us. There
will be some parading."

Minister of Justice and Attorney General Rob Nicholson said the
government is "disturbed" by the ruling, but a decision on whether or
not to appeal it will be left to the Public Prosecution Service.

"My own view of this is that while the courts have said there must be
reasonable access to marijuana for medical purposes, we believe this
must be done in a controlled fashion to ensure public safety," the
Niagara Falls incumbent candidate said.

The ruling will not lead the Conservative government to consider
legalization of marijuana, he said.

"We do not believe in decriminalization. It's one of those issues that
separates political parties in this country," Nicholson said.

Niagara Regional Police will continue enforcing marijuana laws
currently on the books, Deputy Chief Joe Matthews said.

"My understanding is the law stands for three months and the (judge)
has given the government three months to come up with some changes.
From an enforcement perspective, nothing has changed," he said.

Matthews noted the judge found flaws with the federal government's
marijuana laws, not the way the NRP put together its case when it
charged Mernagh three years ago.

"There are some complexities to this law, certainly, because of the
exemptions granted to people who receive medical authorization," he
said.

"We'll wait and see what the government needs to do to fix
that."

Another person watching closely is Richard West, who operates the
Niagara Seed and Vapor Lounge in Niagara Falls. It sells marijuana and
marijuana seeds to people across the country who are licenced through
the government's medical marijuana program.

West, who claims to be one of the largest producers of medical pot in
Canada, is facing similar marijuana possession and production charges
in Norfolk to the ones that were stayed for Mernagh.

He said he's hopeful Taliano's ruling will influence the outcome of
his own case and will also open up access to medical pot for those who
could benefit from it.

"Unfortunately for us, the only thing the government understands is
the almighty dollar and bad press," he said.

Mernagh's lawyer, Paul Lewin, said he's convinced the testimony of
more than 20 patients who have been unable to get their hands on
medical marijuana was the key to convincing the judge to order the
program overhaul.

One witness from British Columbia testified he tried to get 37 family
doctors to sign off on his paperwork to access medical marijuana and
was turned down by them all.

"They had some tough and tragic stories," Lewin said.

"These were very sick people."