RULINGS COULD PUT POT CHARGES ACROSS COUNTRY ON HOLD

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.