SUPREME COURT TO CATAPULT POT DEBATE BACK INTO HEADLINES

Decriminalization of marijuana, an issue pushed to the political back
burner by the departure of Jean Chretien and the arrival of Prime
Minister Paul Martin, is about to be catapulted back into the
headlines by the Supreme Court of Canada.

The court announced Wednesday that it will rule next week on a trio of
cases in which the key question is whether federal law violates the
Charter of Rights by mandating criminal penalties, including potential
jail time, for possession of small amounts of pot.

Whichever way the judgment goes, it seems sure to reignite the debate
that heated up this year when the Chretien government brought in
legislation to decriminalize simple possession.

The bill died on the House of Commons order paper when Chretien called
an end to the fall parliamentary session last month.

Martin Cauchon, then justice minister, expressed hope that Martin will
reintroduce the legislation.

The new prime minister has said in the past that he favours
decriminalization in principle. But he has also been mindful of
conflicting opinions among Liberal backbenchers and suggested the
matter needed further debate.

Martin has not said, since he took power a week ago, whether he will
revive the bill when Parliament resumes in the new year.

The Supreme Court will deliver its opinion next Tuesday.

The cases at issue involve two self-described marijuana activists and
one man who was simply unlucky enough to be caught toking up.

The most colourful of the three is David Malmo-Levine, who argued his
case in person at the high court in May, dressed from head to toe in
hemp clothing and fortified by a hit of hash before he entered the
courtroom.

He used to run the Harm Reduction Club, a non-profit co-operative in
East Vancouver that offered advice on moderate and safe marijuana use
and supplied pot to some 1,800 members.

Another case centres 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.

The third man is 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 had 0.5 grams of pot in his possession.

Trafficking issues were part of the Malmo-Levine and Clay cases, but
the central issue before the Supreme Court was whether possession for
personal use should be a crime.

Federal lawyers argued there is "no free-standing right to get stoned"
and said Parliament must be free to legislate against drug offences
unfettered by constitutional fences.

Defence lawyers contended that criminal penalties for minor drug
offences were disproportionate and violated the guarantee of
fundamental justice in the Charter.