HIGH SUCCESS IN COURT

Marijuana Crusader Rings Up Eight Case Victories In Fight Against
Prohibition

Toronto's Terry Parker has been fighting, and winning, marijuana-related
court cases since the 1970s and there's no end in sight. "I've already had
eight decisions in my favour. There should be a mention of that in the
Guinness Book of World Records," Parker said.

"I don't see myself ever stopping as long as there is marijuana prohibition.
I have a conscience, I am aware of people suffering and I'll find some way
to ex-pose the goods here."

The goods are marijuana and Parker, who suffers from violent seizures -- a
symptom of his epilepsy -- is convinced the smoke is the reason he's alive
today.

"The only reason I am surviving is because I consume marijuana," Parker
said. "It controls what would be devastating daily seizures."

The landmark court rulings in Parker's favour are part of a foundation of
court decisions which have systematically stripped away Canada's marijuana
laws, leaving a lot of questions and a need for legislative changes.

* In 1997, Judge Patrick Sheppard stayed charges of cultivation and
possession of marijuana against Parker after ruling sections of the
Controlled Drug and Substance Act (CDSA) are unconstitutional.

* In 2000, in a unanimous judgment by Justices Marvin Catzman, Louise
Charron and Marc Rosenberg, the court declared the prohibition of marijuana
possession in the CDSA of no force and therefore unconstitutional.

The court ruled that if Ottawa does not clarify the law within 12 months,
the law would be struck down.

* In 2003, Ontario Justice Douglas Phillip threw out a marijuana charge in
Windsor against a 16-year-old after lawyer Brian McAllister argued in court
that, because of the Parker decision, there is effectively no law
prohibiting the possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana.

Despite these decisions, Parker doesn't think he's made a difference.

"There is still prohibition against marijuana, isn't there?" Parker said.
"The law should have been changed 50 years ago."

Canada's medicinal grass laws are a study in confused hypocrisy. There is no
legal way for many of those who have been granted a Section 56 exemption to
access marijuana.

Licensed personal-grower criteria is difficult to obtain. Doctors are being
instructed by their representative associations not to prescribe medical
marijuana.

Thousands of patients who have applied under Health Canada's Medical
Marijuana Access Regulations (MMAR) have been denied.

"My Section 56 exemption says I can possess a little bit more than three
ounces of pot at any given time, but it doesn't say I can purchase it and it
doesn't even say I can smoke it.

"I have no legal way to access it," said Toronto's Allan Love, a 49-year-old
who has HIV and multiple seizure disorders.

"I just want what I feel is fair and right: Give me my medicine."

Love now buys as much as he can afford at $9 per gram from the Toronto
Compassion Centre, a supplier of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

A lawsuit launched by medicinal marijuana users is aiming to abolish the
federal law against possessing and using pot with a constitutional
challenge.

"It's going to be a long process and we don't have time to wait. We're the
generation making the change but we shouldn't have to die for it," said Stu
Chamney, whose wife Marylynne, 37, is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

She suffers from seizures that are controlled by marijuana.

The family has spent $100,000 over the past six years on her marijuana
medicine which has left them bankrupt.

But in a twist, Marylynne and the seven others named in the suit -- chronic
pain sufferers -- are not suing the federal government for any money -- just
access to safe, affordable marijuana for treatment.

"It shows just how principled these people are," said Alan Young, one of the
country's crusading pot lawyers.

The civil suit demands three remedies:

* Strike down Health Canada's Medical Marijuana Access Regulations as too
restrictive.

* End cannabis prohibition.

* Force Health Canada to distribute pot grown by Prairie Plant Systems, the
government-contracted firm which runs a grow operation in Flin Flon, Man.,
to med-pot patients.

Noting a new Sun-Leger poll and a string of others showing a vast majority
of Canadians want lighter marijuana laws, Young said pot prohibition has
been a failure in democracy.

"The numbers, in terms of support for marijuana law reforms, have been
consistent since 1975," Young said.

"There has been a great deal of consensus in the country but without the
ongoing litigation, I am not convinced there would be any political will to
make changes happen."

In another case Young worked on earlier this year, Justice Sydney Lederman
declared the current MMAR unconstitutional, but gave the government an
ultimatum -- fix the regulations or supply the pot itself by July 9.

Young is also part of an upcoming Supreme Court case involving convicted pot
smokers who claim possession laws are unconstitutional. Seen as a flagship
case for marijuana users across Canada who want pot legalized, it has been
postponed before in light of the federal government's pending decision to
introduce legislation to decriminalize marijuana.

Young said he isn't yet convinced this is the year Canada will make changes
to marijuana laws.

"We've been down this road. If it was something the government was going to
deal with, it would have been dealt with by now," Young said, adding he
believes winning in court is the only way to force the government's hand.

PROS AND CONS

* POSITIVE EFFECTS

HEADACHES: The intoxication from the smoke can increase a sense of bliss and
minimize pain from migraines.

EYES: A chemical in marijuana called tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, can
reduce interocular pressure which can ease pressure and prevent glaucoma
from progressing.

SPINE: In some cases, marijuana relieves muscle spasms and calms problems
resulting from spinal cord injury and MS.

STOMACH: Helps nausea, anorexia and wasting which are commonly caused by
chemotherapy, AIDS and the aggressive therapies used to treat those
diseases.

* NEGATIVE EFFECTS

BEHAVIOUR: Can cause difficulty with memory and learning while hindering
perception and causing a difficulty in problem-solving.

NERVOUS SYSTEM: Smoking marijuana will reduce the strength and speed of
communications between the mind and body. It obstructs the neuro-transmitter
acetylcholine, which is needed for effective cognition.

LUNGS: The smoke injures lung tissues and cells responsible for warding off
infections and viruses. It is likely that marijuana smoking, like cigarette
smoking, can cause cancerous tumours.

HEART: During the time when a smoker is high they will have an increased
heart rate up to 50% above normal. The effect could be dangerous for a
person with a congestive heart or with an irregular heartbeat.

- -- Sources: Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada; Institute of Medicine
(U.S.); Canadian Society on Addiction Medicine; Canadian Medical
Association.