SMOKE POT IN PUBLIC AT YOUR PERIL

Never before have laws governing the use of marijuana been so confusing,
but take it from a defence lawyer: smoking pot is still not legal.

Wade Jenson says the media botched the story from a recent B.C. Provincial
Court case where a judge tossed out a case of marijuana possession based on
a ruling from the Ontario Court of Appeal.

It led several people to believe that marijuana was still legal.

Jenson, a Kelowna lawyer, says no one should start smoking pot in public
based on this ruling. "You would be taking a very big risk. We now have a
single and solitary judgement from the provincial court, the lowest court
in the province," he says.

"I don't think the decision is to be taken as carte blanche permission to
light up a joint.

"It means if you are hanging your defence on the interpretation from this
one judge, you better make sure you get before that judge."

The Ontario Court of Appeal declared marijuana laws invalid in a time when
medicinal marijuana is allowed.

Judge Patrick Chen said that essentially nullified laws across the country.

But Jenson says a decision by a provincial court judge, while it does aid
in a possible defence to marijuana possession, it isn't binding on any
other judges.

"It bolsters an argument one might have to make now in the provincial court
but there is no guarantee," he says. "It has a lot of persuasive power but
no binding power."

Practically, cases of simple marijuana possession rarely, if ever, make
their way to court.

It all leaves Kelowna RCMP spokesperson Const. Heather Macdonald wondering
what all the hub-bub is about.

"There has always been officer discretion in small amounts of marijuana,"
she says. "We have always had the authority to seize the product in the
absence of a valid medical certificate for use."

Even if the courts seem confused about marijuana laws, the police retain
the authority to seize it. Whether charges are laid and whether the courts
uphold the charges is out of their hands.