POT LAWS STILL ENFORCED

Charges of small amounts of possession of cannabis proceeded as
constitutionally valid in Alberta provincial court in Fort McMurray this
week, in light of an Ontario Court of Appeal decision reinstating the
nation's marijuana law last week.

In all, five people were found guilty of possession of a controlled
substance (marijuana): Sarah Lynn Viel, Andreas Yvonne Olson, Todd William
Nixon, Wade Huppie and Marvin Dwayne Hodder.

The quintet was sentenced under the previous ruling, in which Ottawa
appealed a lower court ruling that found Health Canada's Marijuana Medical
Access Regulations were unconstitutional.

They were all given $125 fines, plus a victims' surcharges of $18.75 and a
criminal record.

The Ontario Court of Appeal reinstated the law banning the possession of
small amounts of cannabis for recreational use on Oct. 7, making it easier
for medical marijuana users to safely get a good supply of the drug.

The new ruling could pave the way for a change to simple possession laws
(under 30 grams) across Canada - Prince Edward Island has already adopted
the Ontario decision. But a change likely won't occur to prosecution in
northeastern Alberta, said a spokesperson with the Department of Justice in
Ottawa this morning.

"Ontario's decision deals only with Ontario," said Patrick Charette. "Across
the country the law remains the law. As far as prosecution goes, it is up to
individual prosecutors to assess it on a case-by-case basis and determine
what the prospect of conviction is, and whether it would be in the public's
interest to prosecute."

This means the simple possession law is still valid and should be enforced,
Charette explained. Simple possession remains a hybrid conviction, with the
amount of 30 grams the dividing line between it becoming a summary or an
indictable offence.

Some confusion is still there, however, because different areas of the
country deal with marijuana possession in their own way, said Charette. Some
police officers are instructed to let offenders go while in other areas
prosecution goes ahead.

"From an Alberta point of view, the law is still valid and you can't legally
possess marijuana," he said, adding that a fine and a criminal record will
be given those who are convicted.

In January, a judge declared the law against simple possession didn't exist
in Ontario because a previous court of appeal ruling said the possession law
would be invalid by July 2001, if the government didn't create a
constitutionally-sound exemption. The government did not do this.

The Ontario judge acquitted a young person who was charged with possession
of marijuana, saying the law didn't exist.

The government's proposed bill would decriminalize marijuana possession for
users caught with less than 15 grams, but instead fine them $100 to $400.
Conversely, there would be an array of penalties to counter an escalation in
marijuana grow houses run by organized crime, with the maximum sentence
being doubled to 14 years.

A minimum mandatory sentence for people convicted of running marijuana
growing operations is just one of the amendments being considered to federal
marijuana legislation by federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon. Sentences
currently run from six months to up to one year for the most serious
offenders.

The amount of pot that would escape criminal charges may be also be lowered
to 10 grams from the proposed 15 grams with criminal sanctions instead of
fines being levied on repeat offenders.

The federal government has given the bill to a special committee to hold
public hearings on the legislation before writing a report for Parliament,
expected later this year.