OTTAWA APPEALS ONTARIO COURT'S MARIJUANA RULING

Feds Move 'As Quickly As Possible' To Quell Uncertainty Over Drug Laws

TORONTO -- Ottawa moved quickly yesterday to quell uncertainty over
Canada's drug laws by appealing an Ontario Court ruling the day before that
threw out a marijuana charge on a technicality.

"We were aware of the uncertainty the decision created so we thought we'd
move as quickly as possible," said federal Justice Department spokesman Jim
Leising.

Leising said the appeal was "expedited" after Justice Douglas Phillips
sided Thursday with lawyer Brian McAllister and his client, a Windsor,
Ont., teen who was charged last April with possession of marijuana.

Phillips tossed the charge after McAllister argued that Ottawa has not yet
fixed a loophole that effectively invalidates Canada's drug laws when it
comes to cases involving 30 grams of marijuana or less.

That loophole emerged two years ago when Terry Parker, an epileptic who
uses marijuana to ease his symptoms, won the right to possess pot in a
landmark decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Ottawa's response to the Parker ruling was to introduce the Medical
Marijuana Access Regulations, which are supposed to allow qualified
applicants to use marijuana for medical reasons. But McAllister
successfully argued that rather than using regulations to close the
loophole and allow marijuana's medicinal use, the government ought to have
instead drafted a whole new statute.

The regulations in question are also the subject of a constitutional
challenge in Toronto by a group of medical marijuana users who say their
right to choose their own form of treatment is being violated.

Notwithstanding Thursday's ruling, the act is still the law of the land in
Canada and police will proceed as usual with laying charges, Leising said.

But he conceded the Ontario judgment has created "potential for it to be
followed" by enforcement officials and the courts.

Leising said McAllister was served yesterday with the government's
intention to appeal, and said the case will likely be heard in Superior
Court in Windsor within the next 30 days.

Crown prosecutors handling similar cases involving possession of small
amounts of marijuana are being asked to consent to delayed hearings until
after the appeal is heard, he added.