POT LAW 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."

He said he can't comment on the judges' decisions because of his position.

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 Tuesday.

"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.

He was referring to the Windsor case - now under appeal - in which charges
against a 16-year-old were thrown out on the argument that the federal
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act no longer effectively prohibits
possession under 30 grams.

It led the federal Justice Department to ask its Crown attorneys to seek
adjournment or stay of all simple possession charges in Ontario.

Justice officials last week similarly stayed all pot possession charges in
P.E.I.

In an interview, Justice Ralph Thompson of P.E.I. provincial court said he
has received several requests from other provinces for a copy of his ruling.

On Monday, Judge Flora Buchan of Nova Scotia referred to the Ontario and
P.E.I. decisions in ruling there is no valid federal law governing simple
possession.

No decision on whether to appeal the ruling had been made as of late
Tuesday, said Justice Department spokesman Patrick Charette.

A decision on whether to stay all possession charges in Nova Scotia is
expected "any time," he said.

Asked what role U.S. opposition to decriminalization would play in the
final shape of the legislation, Cauchon said he would keep working in
co-operation with the United States but would make sure that any
legislation reflects Canadian values.