TOKIN' VICTORY

Court Tosses Pot Charges Against Teen

OTTAWA -- The federal Justice Department is expected to appeal yesterday's
Ontario court decision that possession of small amounts of marijuana is not
illegal.

Jim Leising, the Justice Department's director of prosecution in Ontario,
said federal lawyers will move quickly to clarify the laws surrounding
possession of pot for recreational use and decide whether to appeal the
ruling to the Ontario Superior Court. "It probably will be appealed,"
Leising said. "Certainly there is a need to ensure the law is clear."

Leising downplayed the importance of the ruling, pointing out that it isn't
binding on any judge because it came from a lower Ontario court.

"It's not much of a precedence," he said.

Justice Douglas Phillips threw out charges against a 16-year-old Windsor
teen yesterday, siding with defence lawyer Brian McAllister who argued
there's no law in Canada prohibiting the possession of 30 grams of pot or less.

Right to Smoke Pot

McAllister also submitted that Ottawa failed to deal with a two-year-old
ruling from the Ontario Court of Appeal that backed Terry Parker's right to
smoke pot for medicinal purposes.

Even though for some the ruling signals the beginning of the end for
Canada's prohibition against possessing small amounts of the drug, those
who do could still be charged, McAllister said.

"My interpretation of the law -- and (it's) been accepted by the judge --
is there's no law in Ontario prohibiting possession of marijuana," he said.

"But the danger is the police aren't likely to accept that argument and
another judge may not accept that argument."

The ruling "affects at this time only this young person," he continued.

Ottawa's response to the Parker ruling was the Marijuana Medical Access
Regulations, which are supposed to allow registered Canadians to smoke and
possess marijuana for medical reasons under certain circumstances.

Last month a Commons committee recommended Canada bring in legislation that
would mean possession of 30 grams of pot would result in nothing more than
a ticket and no criminal record.

In an earlier report, a Senate committee went further and called on Ottawa
to legalize pot altogether.