LAWYER ARGUES CANADA DOESN'T HAVE A CONSISTENT POT LAW

A Moose Jaw Legal Aid lawyer has tried to convince a judge that Canada
doesn't have a consistent law for the possession of marijuana and a charge
against one of his clients should be stayed.

Merv Shaw argued Tuesday that because of recent decisions against the law
in Ontario, Quebec and Prince Edward Island, people in Saskatchewan should
have their charges stayed as well. His client is a 26-year-old man from
Moose Jaw who has a charge of possession of marijuana.

"We're getting a number of people through here that are charged with
possession of marijuana, primarily young people," Shaw said. It is his
office's position that "possession of marijuana is no longer against the law."

A P.E.I. man had his charges stayed by a provincial court judge in that
province, who said that "all residents of Canada wherever they are
situated, are entitled, in fairness, to expect a uniformity of approach
from the Federal Crown."

The law was deemed to be in violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
in a July 2000 decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal in the case of a man
who grew his own marijuana for medicinal purposes to fight his epilepsy.
The court gave the federal government a year to change the law. When the
law was changed, it was an Ontario Superior Court of Justice judge who
ruled that the newer law wasn't adequate to handle people's medicinal use
of marijuana either.

The recent decisions in the Ontario and P.E.I. courts have essentially
stayed charges of possession of marijuana because the federal laws don't
appear to be read the same way across Canada.

"What does that do to the quality of citizens across the country?" asked Shaw.

His brief filed to the provincial court said the accused "is entitled to a
law with regard to the possession of marijuana . . . which is clear, easy
to understand and uniform across this country."

This case appears to be the first time the marijuana possession law has
been challenged in Saskatchewan.

"If it has been, there hasn't been a decision handed down," Shaw said.

Judge David Orr will read his decision April 15 in provincial court.