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Canada: Pot law doesn't breach Charter: Supreme Court Canadian Press Globe and Mail Tuesday 23 Dec 2003 Ottawa - A federal law that bans possession of small amounts of marijuana does not violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, says Canada's top court. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 6-3 Tuesday that a law imposing criminal penalties - including potential jail time - for possessing even tiny amounts of pot is constitutional. In a separate judgment, the court also upheld by 9-0 federal law prohibiting possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. A key question was whether Parliament has the constitutional right to punish marijuana possession, given the lack of proven serious harms from its use. Another was whether federal law violates the charter by imposing criminal penalties, including potential jail time, for possession of small amounts of pot. The high court considered a trio of cases involving two self-described marijuana activists and one man who was caught smoking marijuana. All three had failed to persuade lower courts that the pot law is unconstitutional. David Malmo-Levine, the most colourful of the three, smoked hashish last spring before arguing his case at the high court while dressed from head-to-toe in hemp clothes. He once ran the Harm Reduction Club, a non-profit co-operative in East Vancouver that offered advice on safe pot use while supplying it to some 1,800 members. Another case centred on Christopher Clay, who ran the Hemp Nation in London, Ont., a store he started with a government loan. He sold marijuana seeds and seedlings in a deliberate challenge to the law. His lawyer, University of Toronto law professor Alan Young, says Parliament has never proven that recreational pot use causes anything more serious than bronchitis. 'And most of the justifications for its prohibition have been called into question,' Mr. Young said. The third case involves Victor Caine, who was arrested by a police officer after lighting a joint in a van in a parking lot in White Rock, B.C. He was nabbed with 0.5 grams of pot. Defence lawyers said criminal penalties for minor drug offences are disproportionate and violate the guarantee of fundamental justice in the charter. Federal lawyers argued there is 'no free-standing right to get stoned' and said Parliament must be free, within reason, to criminalize behaviour as it sees fit. Prime Minister Paul Martin signalled last week that he'll reintroduce a bill, first proposed under Jean Chretien, to wipe out criminal penalties - including potential jail time and lasting records - for those caught with small amounts of pot. The bill did not legalize the drug, and maintained or increased already stiff penalties for large-scale growers and traffickers. The legislation died when Parliament was shut down last month to give Mr. Martin a fresh start in January.
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