cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Legal in Ontario 





Marijuana Legal in Ontario 
Posted by CN Staff on May 17, 2003 at 11:31:39 PT
By Dana Larsen and Reverend Damuzi
Source: Cannabis Culture
Appeal Court judge rules that Canada's pot-possession laws are void. Marijuana advocates across Canada are celebrating a May 16 Ontario court decision, which effectively legalized possession in Canada's largest province.On Friday, May 16, Ontario Summary Conviction Appeal Court Justice Steve Rogin upheld the lower court ruling of Justice Philips, concerning a case of pot possession in Ontario.
Justice Rogin agreed that the federal government had failed in its obligation to change the law to allow for medical use of marijuana, and so the entire law was void.This decision is binding on Ontario's lower courts, which means that no-one can be convicted of pot possession in Ontario. This effectively means that marijuana is now legal in Canada's largest province.It is expected that other Appeal courts across Canada will also ratify the decision. Related cases are making their way through the courts in at least four other provinces.The federal government has appealed the case to Ontario's Court of Appeal. The next step would be to Ontario's Supreme Court.The "decrim" legislation being contemplated by Canada's Liberal government will presumably be aimed at filling this void in Canada's pot laws.Marijuana advocates are encouraging pot smokers in Ontario to enjoy their new-found freedom. "The people of Ontario should be celebrating this monumental victory!" said Marc Emery of the BC Marijuana party. "Anywhere you can smoke tobacco, they should be smoking marijuana." History of the decision It began in January in Windsor, Ontario, when lawyer Brian McAllister convinced Provincial Court Judge Phillips that Canada's cannabis laws no longer exist, and that his 16-year-old client should go free on charges of possession. In his ruling, Justice Philips agreed, adding that if a cultivation or trafficking case had been before him, he would have thrown out those charges as well. McAllister's novel legal argument was based on a July 2000 court ruling relating to Canadian med-pot user Terry Parker. In the Parker ruling, Ontario's Supreme Court said that Canada's marijuana laws were unconstitutional because they didn't adequately address the needs of sick people who required pot. The court gave the government one year to change the law and provide medical access to marijuana, or the whole law against pot would be struck down.One year later, the government had created new medical marijuana regulations, but didn't change the actual law. The difference, argued McAllister, is that regulations can be altered at the whim of Canada's top ministers, but laws require debate and a vote by parliament. The judge agreed, declared that the government had failed in its court-ordered legal obligations, and that therefore Canada's pot law was null and void.Now that the Ontario Summary Conviction Appeal Court has upheld the decision, it is binding on all lower courts in Ontario. Although Ontario's higher courts could reverse the decision, right now there is no law against pot possession in Ontario. Spreading freedom  The earlier decision from Ontario lower Provincial Court had already been reinforced by decisions in PEI and Nova Scotia. In PEI, the judge explained his reasoning as follows:"All persons in the Province of Ontario, all 12 million of them, have acquired an immunity from prosecution for marijuana possession, which may be anything from short term to permanent. If this prosecution [in PEI] is permitted to continue, in effect it would be tantamount to a ruling that more than one third of the population of Canada is immune from prosecution while the residents of Prince Edward Island are not."These court decisions also reveal the true purpose behind the Liberals' impending new pot "decrim" legislation. Their new law would overrule these court decisions, and so the government is expected to pass their new bill as quickly as possible, to fill in the legal void.A more far-reaching Supreme Court challenge to Canada's marijuana laws was heard on May 6, and a decision is expected in the winter.Source: Cannabis Culture Author: Dana Larsen and Reverend DamuziPublished: May 16, 2003Copyright: 2003 Cannabis CultureContact: ccmag cannabisculture.com Website: http://www.cannabisculture.com/ DL: http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2958.htmlRelated Articles:No Laws Ban Possession of Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16321.shtmlMarijuana Possession Law 'Erased' http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16320.shtmlPot Laws Unconstitutional: Lawyerhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15703.shtmlJudge Calls Marijuana Law Invalid http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15092.shtml
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Comment #22 posted by freedom fighter on May 19, 2003 at 20:16:47 PT
Pearl Fog
(Slightly off-topic but it is a fog! ;) thanks jose)Pearl FogOPEN the door now.
Go roll up the collar of your coat
To walk in the changing scarf of mist.Tell your sins here to the pearl fog
And know for once a deepening night
Strange as the half-meanings
Alurk in a wise woman's mousey eyes.Yes, tell your sins
And know how careless a pearl fog is
Of the laws you have broken.Carl Sandburghttp://carl-sandburg.com/pearl_fog.htmpazff
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Comment #21 posted by paulpeterson on May 19, 2003 at 10:30:58 PT
CALM ACCEPTANCE OF IDEA AS FACT
Recently someone told me that the 3 stages to change are: 1) the idea is ridiculous, 2) violent opposition/repression to the idea by the status quo, 3) calm acceptance of the idea as fact and truth. One can tell when the end of #2 is at hand, when the violence against the idea increases to a frenzied level, with mob actions, you get the idea.Well, congradulations, you guys in Canada, you have proven to us freedom fighters still in Nazi controlled der faterlunt'd, those backward 40 some states down south, that there is a third stage to this process, because right now it seems as we down here are right smack at the end of stage 2, eh? Well done, keep up the torch for us starved stoners down here, we'll get there soon enough, and quicker, of course, because of the beacon you have carried so well so long, Oh Canada!
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Comment #20 posted by escapegoat on May 19, 2003 at 10:03:32 PT:
Illegal cannabis arrests WILL bring lawsuits
>What are the implications now in Canada? I suppose an
>average cop would'nt dare arrest anyone for toking a joint
>in light of this decision in Canada.. Not if they want to be sued...
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Comment #19 posted by escapegoat on May 19, 2003 at 10:02:01 PT:
Lots of press over SARS...none over legal cannabis
It's odd: I've faxed press releases for this to major newswires, NYP, Washington Post, CNN...etc and no one has bitten. Except the Canadian papers, of course.Funny, Toronto got mondo press over the SARS scare..and now, not a peep? Interesting...further proof the media probably wants to keep this quiet.
Ontario Consumers for Safe Access to Recreational Cannabis
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Comment #18 posted by Jose Melendez on May 19, 2003 at 04:16:16 PT
Carl Sandburg Poetry
FOG"THE fog comes
on little cat feet.It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on."Carl Sandburg 
http://carl-sandburg.com/fog.htm
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Comment #17 posted by freedom fighter on May 18, 2003 at 14:44:50 PT
Wolfgang,
You said, "From what I've seen of it, the new decrim law will not do those two things either. What will make the new law any more valid than the one just struck down?"That's really a good question.. I would suppose the new "law" would be struck down too. What are the implications now in Canada? I suppose an average cop would'nt dare arrest anyone for toking a joint in light of this decision in Canada.. OHHHHh Cannnada! Let there be some sane people who does not smoke pot and do understand why others do smoke pot and truly respect their rights as human beings and do what's right for the country. pazff
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Comment #16 posted by ekim on May 18, 2003 at 14:35:31 PT
thanks for link Mayan
Subscriber Buys FTW Full Page Ad in The Washington Post: http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/051603_wash_post_ad.htmlin this peice it says that a full page add in the POST can be had for 20 grand. If Ethan made the call it would be done.
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Comment #15 posted by mayan on May 18, 2003 at 13:55:03 PT
U.S. Media Blackout
The fascist,corporate U.S. media doesn't want their citizens to know that they live in the former land of the free! Go Canada!!!
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on May 18, 2003 at 11:38:21 PT
Lehder
I'll be patient because you could very well be right. I will recite to myself over and over again today. Patience is a Virtue! Patience is a Virtue! I'm just basically very impatient with the slowness of the much needed changes. It's been a long time coming!
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Comment #13 posted by Lehder on May 18, 2003 at 11:33:36 PT
shhhhhhh
I like there being no news on this. Maybe it's a conspiracy! Maybe it's the best way. More than fog can come in on little cat's feet. Maybe the legislators who are with us plan to sit on silent haunches and let the war move on. 
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on May 18, 2003 at 11:24:17 PT
CTV and CBC
I really try to post the articles from their web sites because it usually winds up on NWI and then gets mentioned on american news channels. We sure see how this is something they don't want to get around and that's what I call censorship.
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Comment #11 posted by ErikGhint on May 18, 2003 at 11:20:54 PT
its a shame
I can't believe how little attention this is getting. I looked in the Toronto Star yesterday in the main section and in the bottom left hand corner of on one of the last pages of the section, there was a tiny little article taking up about 1/20th of the page about the decision. It said the basics of what all the other articles said, but its not like anyone actually saw it. Additionally on CBC NewsWorld they have a scroll at the bottom of the screen which displays current news, and Friday night it had a little blurp about the decision but again it's not like the majority would have seen it.
A shame it is.
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Comment #10 posted by Lehder on May 18, 2003 at 11:15:06 PT
and look 
where the Toronto Sun cut the longer article off: right beforeMr. McAllister said police in Ontario should note Judge Rogin's judgment and stop
          laying charges for marijuana possession.          "Otherwise, the police will be arresting people for an activity which is no longer
          outlawed," he said.I guess an executive decision was made in the interest of...well, the emotional and psychic needs of whoever made it.
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on May 18, 2003 at 11:14:37 PT
Thanks Lehder 
I appreciate your looking. I got these two and they are all I've seen except this one from CC above. There should be more.http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16320.shtmlhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16320.shtml#1I like the one from the Globe and Mail. http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16321.shtmlCTV or CBC haven't done an article so far and I hope they will.
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Comment #8 posted by Lehder on May 18, 2003 at 11:07:03 PT
here are two
although one is only an abridgment of the other.http://canada.com/national/story.asp?id=1AE96BFF-510A-480D-B0B0-14E6A55CFDC9http://www.torontosun.com/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2003/05/17/89179.html
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on May 18, 2003 at 09:18:55 PT
Where Are More News Articles On This Decision?
I'm looking and looking for more then the few articles on this monumental decision for legalization. I watch NWI frequently and they haven't said anything about it either. I'll keep looking.
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Comment #6 posted by Lehder on May 18, 2003 at 06:40:29 PT
make it a soft parade
Keep a low profile with your weed, Canadians, no public smoking displays, please. Let people see that the consequences of legal marijuana, beyond peace, are...none at all: the hospitals will not overflow with people freaking out, the streets will not be clogged with dopers and car wrecks, children will not fall to addiction, people will still show up for work, the wheels will turn, and Canada will prosper. If it can be kept legal for a while longer, then the whole of society, prohibitionists too, will soon enjoy a great sense of relief to have finished with the worst of the drug war. Just keep the pressure on in the courts, the press and the legislature, and don't let up for a moment, don't let all that's been won be lost. Canada will survive and prosper, but U.S. fascism might collapse of apoplexy at the sight of so much peace and freedom. We'll celebrate then with the mother of all parades. Meanwhile,The soft parade has now begunListen to the engines hum....Successful hills are here to stayEverything must be this way Gentle streets where people play Welcome to the Soft Parade http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/doors/thesoftparade.html
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Comment #5 posted by malleus2 on May 18, 2003 at 02:29:09 PT
Looks like the Canadian jurists have spoken
And they've said they are sick and tired of seeing harmless people being nailed for possession. A huge chunk of the prohib wall has silently fallen to the ground; I can hardly wait to hear the screams of the antis when they wake from their alcoholic stupors and realize what's happened.And as Ontario goes, mainly so goes the rest of Canada; this will spread like wildfire. But what will be most interesting will be the Crown's reaction to all the lawsuits that will be filed by people who've been imprisoned for possession...
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Comment #4 posted by John Tyler on May 17, 2003 at 21:54:37 PT
Wow
What a way to start the summer vacation season in Canada?
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Comment #3 posted by MaryJaneFreedom on May 17, 2003 at 16:23:09 PT
I'm calling in sick...
For the next few months. My friends and I have already decided to head up to canada! Don't worry Virgil, we'll make sure a parade gets started up soon. Everyday!!! We'll all be walking down the street smoking joints! And having the most fun we have ever had in our entire lives! Long Live Cannabis!
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Comment #2 posted by Virgil on May 17, 2003 at 14:09:42 PT
Where is the parade?
Are people firing up a joint waiting in line at the DMV or wherever they are? I mean isn't this a big, big deal worthy of a parade?Can establishments sell cannabis soup yet? 
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Comment #1 posted by WolfgangWylde on May 17, 2003 at 14:06:22 PT
Something I don't understand....
...Ontario has struck down the possession law because the Canadian government did not change their laws to allow for medical possession, and more importantly, a legal medical supply. From what I've seen of it, the new decrim law will not do those two things either. What will make the new law any more valid than the one just struck down?
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