SUPREME COURT HALTS POT APPEALS AMID DEBATE OVER LAW

OTTAWA—In a highly unusual move, the Supreme Court of Canada refused
yesterday to proceed with three constitutional appeals to Canada's pot law
because Justice Minister Martin Cauchon says he is on the verge of
decriminalizing marijuana.

One after another, several of Canada's top judges grilled federal lawyer
David Frankel, who wanted to go ahead and defend the criminal law that
outlaws simple possession and argue that marijuana is a harmful substance.

But the judges interjected that Cauchon has said the law's penalties are
too harsh and its enforcement too uneven, and appeared baffled by Frankel's
explanations that the minister was expressing "a personal view."

Cauchon has said a lifelong criminal record that often leaves young people
unable to travel to the U.S. or take up certain jobs is too great a
penalty. Committees of the Senate and the Commons have said the same thing,
and both have urged relaxing the criminal sanctions, although to different
degrees.

Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin said a key question in the appeals is
whether the harm to society or any person by the use of marijuana is
sufficient to permit criminalization, and the upcoming examination by
Parliament "may well prove to be of relevance to the case, and of interest
to the parties, and it may provide guidance to the courts in deciding the
present appeals."

After less than an hour of argument, and consultation by the judges,
McLachlin adjourned the three appeals to the court's spring session, adding
their decision "expresses no view on the issues before us."

Lawyers for the three individuals challenging the law — two from B.C. and
one from Ontario — had also wanted to proceed, heartened by Cauchon's
comments that seemed to back their view that the criminalization of
marijuana use infringes their right to life, liberty and security of the
person.

But they were equally heartened by the court's view that the stakes were high.

Lawyer Paul Burstein represented former London resident Chris Clay, who was
convicted for selling marijuana seeds and seedlings in 1995. Yesterday, he
said the court's decision wasn't perhaps a rebuke, but was definitely a
signal to the government to clarify its position on the law