MARIJUANA POSSESSION LAW BACK ON THE BOOKS

TORONTO -- Canada's law against possessing small amounts of pot came
back into effect yesterday after the Ontario Court of Appeal struck
down parts of Ottawa's medicinal marijuana program.

Federal regulations governing the program unfairly restrict qualified
users in getting the drug, the court found. But it stopped short of
the true goal for many marijuana advocates: striking down the law in
its entirety.

Instead, the three-judge panel nimbly singled out as unconstitutional
specific provisions of the federal Marijuana Medical Access
Regulations, or MMARs, leaving users to celebrate only a partial victory.

"That little gap that we had in Ontario where the law did not exist
and police could not arrest you for smoking is over," lawyer Alan
Young said outside court.

"Ultimately, I would prefer just to get rid of the law and let people
take care of themselves as they see fit. That didn't happen today, but
at least the court has given sick people some greater tools to be
self-sufficient."

The provisions in question restricted licensed growers from receiving
compensation for their product, growing the drug for more than one
qualified patient and pooling resources with other licensed producers.

The ruling also struck down a requirement that sick people get two
doctors to validate their need to use marijuana as a drug.

"This narrow remedy would create a constitutionally valid medical
exemption, making marijuana prohibition ... immediately
constitutionally valid and of full force and effect and removing any
uncertainty concerning the validity of the prohibition," said a
synopsis of the ruling issued by the court.

In other words, the ruling reinstates laws that were effectively
suspended in Ontario earlier this year when a judge ruled that
possessing less than 30 grams of pot was no longer against the law in
the province.

The decision is encouraging because it will allow medicinal growers to
produce a higher-quality drug in greater quantities, said Alison
Myrden, a medicinal user and longtime marijuana crusader.

The ruling agreed with a lower court ruling in January that found the
regulations were unconstitutional because they forced qualified users
to either grow their own pot or buy it on the black market. Officials
from the federal government could not immediately be reached for
comment on the ruling.