TRIO'S POT CASE NIXED

'No Longer In The Public Interest': Fed Official

A DECISION to withdraw marijuana charges against three Toronto men
yesterday does not mean Canada's pot laws are again up in smoke, said a
justice department spokesman. Possession and cultivation charges linked to
a Toronto compassion club bust nearly two years ago were withdrawn in court
yesterday by Crown attorney Jeffrey Roy.

'COMPLETE VINDICATION'

"As the case was being reviewed for the hearing, our office determined it
was no longer in the public interest to continue," said Kevin Wilson, the
justice department's deputy director of strategic initiatives.

Bruce Ryan, who uses marijuana as medicine, was facing 12 charges. He
represented himself and called the decision a "complete vindication" for
compassion clubs, which grow and distribute pot for the sick.

But Wilson said the decision was not a vindication and only reflects a
period when Canada's law was murky. He said the charges were withdrawn
because they date to a specific window -- July 2001 to October 2003 -- when
there were "flaws" in Canada's drug laws.

NEW RULES WRITTEN

Those flaws were remedied in a judgment issued on Oct. 7, 2003, by the
Ontario Court of Appeal, which wrote new rules to make possession of pot
for social or recreational use illegal.

Wilson said any charges before last Oct. 7 will be evaluated case by case.
Any charges after that date will be prosecuted, he said.

Along with Ryan, Pierre Champagne and James Wallace also had their charges
withdrawn.