COURT HEARS APPEAL THAT COULD ALTER POT POSSESSION AND DISTRIBUTION LAWS

TORONTO (CP) - A battle to determine whether the federal government
should be required to provide medicinal marijuana began Tuesday,
proceedings that could alter Canada's pot possession laws.

Crown lawyer Croft Michaelson argued in the Ontario Court of Appeal
that a ruling by an Ontario Superior Court justice that the federal
government is required to set up a distribution scheme for medicinal
marijuana should be overturned.

He said Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which
guarantees one's right to life, liberty and security of the person,
does not require the government to dispense pot.

"Section 7 does not require the government to establish a legal source
of unproved drugs because individuals choose to use them," Michaelson
told a panel of three justices.

"There's a real possibility that at the end of the day, there's going
to be a vacuum that the government is going to have to fill," he
added, referring to the 400-plus federally approved marijuana users.

In January, Ontario Superior Court Justice Sidney Lederman ruled it
was unfair for the federal government to allow people to smoke
medicinal marijuana but put them in a position where they have to buy
it from drug dealers because Ottawa provides no legal access to
cannabis. He gave the government until July 9 to fix the regulations
or supply the pot itself.

"He's erred in requiring the government to establish a safe, legal
supply," Michaelson told justices David Doherty, Stephen Goudge and
Janet Simmons.

"This case is not about deprivation."

He also said Canada's global reputation is at stake.

"The consensus in the international community is that marijuana should
not be used as a therapeutic product," he said.

Outside court, lawyer Alan Young, who is arguing for the appeal, said
such a notion should be dismissed.

"The international community is yawning through our Canadian debate,"
he said. "Medical marijuana is not an issue in most of the western
world because they have decriminalized marijuana."

Young cited the Netherlands, Australia, Switzerland and England as
examples of countries where criminal sanctions against pot users have
been lifted.

"You can only have a recreational prohibition if you take care of sick
people," he said. "We're here today to tell the court they're not
taking care of sick people properly."

In court, Young said the manner by which medicinal marijuana users
have to obtain the drug is "Kafka-esque" because of the difficulty
some have in finding two specialists willing to approve of the use of
pot.

"The Crown is trying to defend forcing people into the black market,"
Young said.

He said the federal government needs to take the initiative because
the private sector isn't yet involved in distributing marijuana.

"Physicians aren't interested because most of medicine in this country
involves pharmaceuticals, synthetic products and not plant products,"
he said.

"No one wants to get involved because no one's figured out how to make
money yet."

The hearing continues Wednesday.