SUPREME COURT WON'T CHILL OUT ON POT POSSESSION STAND

Canada's highest court played Scrooge yesterday for thousands of
people who are regular users of marijuana.

The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the federal law which makes
possession of small amounts of marijuana illegal. The court ruled that
the law does not violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and is
therefore constitutional.

The 6-3 ruling dashed the hopes of three pot users who launched the
constitutional challenge.

The three wise men - David Malmo-Levine, Christopher Clay and Victor
Caine - had hoped the law would be struck from the books because there
is little evidence that marijuana use results in proven serious harm
from its use.

Malmo-Levine, who argued his case after taking a hit of hash, and Clay
are known activists. Caine, on the other hand, was just in the wrong
place at the wrong time when he got busted after lighting up a joint
with a police cruiser in the vicinity.

The battle over the criminality of smoking marijuana goes back
decades. In fact, possession of marijuana was not a crime in Canada
until 1923 and the first criminal charge wasn't laid until 15 years
later.

Liberalizing the possession laws in Canada got a boost in 1973 when
the federal government's commission into the medical use of marijuana
called for an end to charges for possession and cultivation. In 2001,
the federal government made it legal for some people to smoke pot for
medical reasons. As of last summer, 582 people have been given
permission to light up to alleviate a variety of symptoms caused by
medical conditions.

That threw the whole justice system into confusion and an Ontario
judge ruled last January that the federal law was invalid.

The federal government was on the verge of changing the law to take
possession of marijuana from being a criminal offence but it would
remain illegal. The law was never passed because the session of
Parliament ended and the order died on the docket.

The big bonus - for the estimated 100,000 people in Canada who smoke
daily - was possession would be handled like a summary offence ticket
and they would be levied a small fine if caught and not be saddled
with a criminal record.

In spite of common misconceptions, Canada is not a leader in
decriminalizing marijuana use. In Australia, Spain, Luxembourg,
Belgium, Portugal and Italy possession of small amounts of marijuana
is not a crime.

In the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark possession is
still a crime but it is not prosecuted.

In the United States, where they take the War on Drugs seriously, 12
states have decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Come the new year Prime Minister Paul Martin will recall Parliament.
That's when he can play Santa Claus to the 1.5 million Canadians who
use pot recreationally, and decriminalize possession of a few joints.