POT LAW STILL VALID, CAUCHON INSISTS

OTTAWA -- Justice Minister Martin Cauchon says Canada's pot possession law
is still valid, even though judges in three provinces have ruled to the
contrary.

In two separate rulings, provincial judges in Ontario and P.E.I. have
tossed out simple possession charges, prompting Cauchon's department to
stay all such charges in those provinces.

Another ruling by a Nova Scotia judge Monday will likely lead to a similar
stay while the decision is appealed.

Still, Cauchon insisted: "The existing legislation is the law of the land
and at Justice Canada we will keep enforcing that legislation."

The justice minister was recently criticized by a prominent legal expert
for delaying a promised bill to decriminalize simple pot possession,
prompting such rulings.

Alan Young of Osgoode Hall law school said Cauchon had failed to address
the issue quickly enough following a key ruling in Windsor, Ont., earlier
this year, on which the other rulings were based. Cauchon, who first
promised revamped legislation by April, and then by June, gave no date
yesterday.

"We're in the middle of a consultation process with other ministers and
various stakeholders, as well, and I will move ahead with an answer as soon
as I can," he said.

A provincial court judge in P.E.I. ruled two weeks ago that an Ontario
court decision, which prompted the adjournment of all simple possession
charges in Ontario, should be binding in other provinces as well.