FEDS' APPEAL KEEPS POT ISSUE SMOULDERING

Smoking marijuana has been known to spawn forgetful potheads, but it was
the federal government who lacked short-term memory last Thursday, as a
judge ruled their marijuana law ineffective and therefore invalid.

Paving the way for potential decriminalization of the "sweet leaf," or at
least an exemption, Ontario judge Douglas Phillips ruled in favour of a
16-year-old Windsor toker who argued there is no law in Canada governing
the use of marijuana for recreational purposes, or the possession of 30
grams or less of the drug. The boy was arrested carrying five grams.

The ruling comes as a result of an earlier case in which it was determined
that denying marijuana to chronic pain sufferers who benefit from the drug
was unconstitutional. Instead of simply erasing the possession law that was
on the books, the judge in that case gave the federal government one year
to create a better one to be passed through Parliament. The new federal
guidelines were instead handed down through cabinet, and therefore deemed
inadequate by Phillips in his ruling. The 16-year-old was arrested a day
after the one-year moratorium had lapsed.

"I think it's also satisfying to know that this particular law has been
declared invalid, particularly given how burdensome it is in terms of
criminalizing the behaviour that hundreds of thousands of Canadians engage
in," the teen's lawyer, Brian McAllister, told the CBC.

To celebrate the ruling, marijuana activists in Toronto planned to hold a
"smoke-in" at Nathan Phillips Square on Friday, complete with ice skating
and a snowman smoking a joint.

Not surprisingly, the federal Justice Department has announced it will
appeal the ruling. The feds don't exactly have a united front on the issue,
however. Last year, federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon raised the
possibility of complete decriminalization of marijuana, causing many
advocates to entertain the idea of blazing more than just legal trails.