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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Canada: Epileptic Wins Lifetime Right To Marijuana
Joseph Brean and Canadian Press National Post (Canada)
Monday 18 Mar 2002 Awaits Parliament A man who was granted temporary legal permission to smoke and grow marijuana to ease his epileptic seizures, has had the right extended until Parliament recognizes an Ontario court's ruling that the drug has medicinal uses. Terry Parker said the ruling, which makes him the only lifetime legal pot smoker in the country, came as a bittersweet relief. "Today's not too bad, got an extension, won't be going to jail [but] I should not be the only civilian in Canada to use marijuana for epilepsy," he said. "It should be people with cancer, MS [multiple sclerosis], the whole gamut." Mr. Parker was first granted the right to grow and possess marijuana by an Ontario court in 1997, after a lengthy court battle over drug possession and trafficking charges. He was convicted of trafficking after police seized dozens of pot plants from his home in 1996, and he admitted to sharing the drug with friends who he said also had seizures. In a landmark decision on the case in July, 2000, the court dismissed a Crown appeal of Mr. Parker's exemption, and ruled that "prohibition on the cultivation and possession of marijuana is unconstitutional." The judge gave a one-year deadline before Canada's marijuana possession laws would legally "lack force and effect." The deadline passed with no legislative response. Mr. Parker, who once again faced prosecution for his use of marijuana, was given a six-month extension, which ended last week. Mr. Justice Romain Pitt's latest ruling puts the onus back on Parliament to recognize the court's earlier decision that marijuana has medical uses, and protects Mr. Parker from future prosecution on possession charges. Mr. Parker, who says a marijuana joint instantly relieves his symptoms of pallor, grinding teeth and convulsions, had extensive financial support for his legal bills -- more that US$25,000 -- from a think tank funded by billionaire philanthropist George Soros. He intends to continue his battle against Parliament with the help of Alan Young, an Osgoode Hall law professor, who will guide efforts to push new marijuana legislation. Mr. Parker said he recently took in a two-ounce harvest from the marijuana plants he grows in a spare bedroom. Meanwhile, three of five candidates vying to replace Premier Mike Harris for the leadership of Ontario's law-and-order Conservative party say they've smoked pot. Those who admitted it were: Ernie Eves ("Only at Argo [football] games ... when you had to"), Jim Flaherty ("I didn't like it") and Chris Stockwell ("I never exhaled"). Those who denied smoking pot were: Tony Clement ("Not even a cigarette") and Elizabeth Witmer ("I've never had any desire to do so.")
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