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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Canada: Court eases medical marijuana rules, reinstates law Jake Rupert The Ottawa Citizen Wednesday 08 Oct 2003 Those with permits must have access to drug: judges An Ontario Court of Appeal ruling has theoretically made it easier for medical marijuana users to safely get a good supply of the drug. But the court yesterday reinstated the law against everyone else possessing small amounts of cannabis for recreational use. The court dismissed an appeal by the federal Justice Department of a lower court ruling that found Health Canada's Marijuana Medical Access Regulations were unconstitutional. It said the regulations didn't provide a reliable source of marijuana for sick people with government permits to smoke the drug for medical purposes. The judges also changed the medical marijuana regulations in four fundamental ways. Justices David Doherty, Stephen Goudge and Janet Simmons struck down the regulations against sick people paying designated growers for marijuana, designated growers supplying more than one sick person, and growers banding together to grow the drug. They also struck down a requirement that people suffering from ailments other than cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis needed two specialists to prescribe the drug before an exemption would be granted. The court said growers still had to get a licence from Health Canada, and the government could put further restrictions on the growers. In theory, this paves the way for the legalization of "compassion clubs," which grow marijuana for a number of sick people who pay for the drug. Many of these organizations operate illegally in Canada already. The other major part of the court's ruling deals with simple possession of marijuana by people without exemptions. In January, a judge declared the law against simple possession of marijuana didn't exist in Ontario because a previous court of appeal ruling said the possession law would be invalid by July 2001 if the government didn't create a constitutionally sound exemption. The government did not do this. The judge acquitted a person who was charged with possession of marijuana, saying the law didn't exist. The Justice Department appealed this finding. Yesterday, the court agreed with the lower court ruling that there has been no law against possession of marijuana since July 2001. However, it said that because it has now changed the medical marijuana access regulations to make them constitutional, the simple possession law is reinstated. The ruling creates a quandary for justice officials. The court clearly held that the law against possession in Ontario has been void since July 2001. This means hundreds of people have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to breaking a law that didn't exist. The Justice Department will now have to decide what to do with cases put on hold pending this ruling. Copyright 2003 The Ottawa Citizen
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