POT CHARGES COULD BE STAYED ACROSS CANADA: EXPERT

OTTAWA (CP) - Criminal charges for possessing small amounts of pot could be
put on hold in provinces across the country following court rulings in
Ontario and P.E.I., says a prominent legal expert.

A provincial court judge in P.E.I. ruled this month 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 Parker case in Windsor, Ont. - now under appeal - which saw charges
thrown out against a 16-year-old boy 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 an adjournment or stay of all simple possession
charges in Ontario.

Justice officials last week similarly stayed all pot possession charges in
P.E.I. as a result of the ruling there.

Alan Young, a professor at Osgoode Hall law school in Toronto, said judges
in other provinces may also follow suit out of sheer frustration with
Ottawa's sluggishness in dealing with marijuana possession laws.

"Really, I think people are fed up and I would think that pretty much
across the country, with the exception of possibly Alberta, most courts
would be more than happy to start staying marijuana prosecution."

Young said many lawyers may not realize the charges in Ontario and P.E.I.
have been stayed pending the results of the Parker appeal, but judges would
not hesitate if lawyers point out the law is vulnerable.

"If raised, I can't imagine many courts wanting to proceed with these minor
cases knowing that they may be imposing criminal records on people who
effectively have done nothing criminal."

In an interview, Justice Ralph Thompson of P.E.I. provincial court said
he'd received several requests for a copy of his ruling from other
provinces. Adding to the law's vulnerability is the fact Justice Minister
Martin Cauchon has promised to introduce new legislation to decriminalize
marijuana.

The legislation, originally promised by the end of April, could now take
until the end of the session in late June, Cauchon said recently.

Three key cases now before the Supreme Court involving simple possession,
trafficking and a marijuana "club," also hang in the balance, and have been
put off until May 6.

But Thompson said he didn't take into account Cauchon's promised new law in
making his decision.

"Basically what I determined was that it would be an abuse of process to
permit the charge to proceed here when charges weren't proceeding in
Ontario," he said. "Until such time as the law can be uniformly applied
across the country in such a way that 12 million people in Ontario are not
subject to prosecution, then that charge will not proceed here."

Young argued the P.E.I. ruling should prompt the Justice Department to stay
possession charges countrywide.

"Why they wouldn't give an instruction like that across the country is
puzzling considering that we have national criminal law," he said. "My
explanation is that they never go out of their way to move this issue in a
progressive way. They do as little as possible and they wait until they're
pushed again."

Cauchon has said he will continue to defend the current law until it is
changed. He also outlined what will likely become part of his new drug
strategy, a department insider said last week: a comprehensive approach to
drug use involving a health strategy and greater enforcement of ticketable
offences.

Trafficking and possession of other drugs would still remain a crime. Young
argues that the Parker case, along with Cauchon's promise to decriminalize
the law and his department's insistence on push through on prosecutions,
has produced a policy quagmire.

"It's very unfair on local agents who do the dirty work for him, to have
them do trials that may be for nought," Young said.

"They have a minister who seems to be suggesting he wants to change the
law, yet he's still prosecuting people . . . If that's his position, he's
extremely disingenuous about this issue and he's playing politics."

Mike Murphy, a spokesman for the minister, said Cauchon is acting in the
public interest.

"There's no politics being played here. The minister will do what he
believes is right for the Canadian people."

Young said it would be an easy legislative procedure to remove pot
possession from the current act, and make it a ticketable offence.

"The question is, 'Why has it taken a year before he's even introduced the
proposal?"'