POT LAW DOESN'T BREACH CHARTER: SUPREME COURT

Ottawa -- A federal law that bans possession of small amounts of marijuana
does not violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, says Canada's top court.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 6-3 Tuesday that a law imposing criminal
penalties -- including potential jail time -- for possessing even tiny
amounts of pot is constitutional.

In a separate judgment, the court also upheld by 9-0 federal law
prohibiting possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.

A key question was whether Parliament has the constitutional right to
punish marijuana possession, given the lack of proven serious harms from
its use. Another was whether federal law violates the charter by imposing
criminal penalties, including potential jail time, for possession of small
amounts of pot.

The high court considered a trio of cases involving two self-described
marijuana activists and one man who was caught smoking marijuana. All three
had failed to persuade lower courts that the pot law is unconstitutional.

David Malmo-Levine, the most colourful of the three, smoked hashish last
spring before arguing his case at the high court while dressed from
head-to-toe in hemp clothes. He once ran the Harm Reduction Club, a
non-profit co-operative in East Vancouver that offered advice on safe pot
use while supplying it to some 1,800 members.

Another case centred on Christopher Clay, who ran the Hemp Nation in
London, Ont., a store he started with a government loan. He sold marijuana
seeds and seedlings in a deliberate challenge to the law.

His lawyer, University of Toronto law professor Alan Young, says Parliament
has never proven that recreational pot use causes anything more serious
than bronchitis.

"And most of the justifications for its prohibition have been called into
question," Mr. Young said.

The third case involves Victor Caine, who was arrested by a police officer
after lighting a joint in a van in a parking lot in White Rock, B.C. He was
nabbed with 0.5 grams of pot.

Defence lawyers said criminal penalties for minor drug offences are
disproportionate and violate the guarantee of fundamental justice in the
charter. Federal lawyers argued there is "no free-standing right to get
stoned" and said Parliament must be free, within reason, to criminalize
behaviour as it sees fit.

Prime Minister Paul Martin signalled last week that he'll reintroduce a
bill, first proposed under Jean Chretien, to wipe out criminal penalties --
including potential jail time and lasting records -- for those caught with
small amounts of pot. The bill did not legalize the drug, and maintained or
increased already stiff penalties for large-scale growers and traffickers.

The legislation died when Parliament was shut down last month to give Mr.
Martin a fresh start in January.