LAWYERS WAGE BATTLE OVER MEDICAL POT USE

A battle to determine whether the federal government should be required to
provide medicinal marijuana began yesterday, 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 "the consensus in the international community is that
marijuana should not be used as a therapeutic product."

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

"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 today.