The Ontario Superior Court has been busy lately, striking blows against contradictory laws. First there was last fall’s ruling against the province’s weird prostitution law (which can be summed up as “prostitution is legal unless money changes hands”). Today, the court has struck down some of Canada’s laws on using marijuana for medicinal purposes (which can be summed up as “it’s legal unless doctor after doctor refuses to help”). According to the National Post, the court has nullified the parts of Canada’s drug laws that have to do with producing and possessing drugs.
The Ontario Court of Appeal had previously recognized that to deprive someone with a serious illness of medical marijuana if it relieves their pain is a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As a result of that, the federal government created the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations to let people legally get, possess and grow marijuana if they have a licence supported by a medical doctor.
Health Canada’s medical marijuana program regulates and approves which growers patients can buy from and how much they’re legally allowed to use for their treatment.…
It’s meant many Canadians waiting to be accepted into the medical marijuana program seek out medical marijuana without a licence, at times leading to possession and production-related arrests.
This will, as always, go to the Supreme Court (no doubt somewhere in the bowels of the federal attorney general’s office, someone is already drafting up new, Constitution-complying rules). Still, it is nice to see judges take issue with the obviously absurd aspects of Canadian laws. Lord knows what they’ll do if anyone figures out a charter challenge to the CRTC.
• Ontario closer than ever to legalization of marijuana [National Post]
• Pot laws ruled unconstitutional [Toronto Star]
• Ontario court strikes down Canada’s pot laws [Globe and Mail]
(Image: Ano Lobb)
Don’t worry, they do what they want for the short time remainning on earth. 2012 is comming. Why not prove yourself?
April 14, 2011 at 10:17 am | by .It should already be legal if we lived in an actual democracy and not this mockery. The majority of Canadians want it legal, so it should be. End of story.
April 15, 2011 at 2:00 pm | by Josh R.a majority of canada does not want it legal Josh R. get it right idiot- and i smoke pot
May 7, 2011 at 11:17 pm | by Smart Person