T
The420Guy
Guest
An Ontario judge has ruled that federal laws against marijuana possession
are no longer valid, a decision that could eventually affect the whole country.
Judge Douglas Phillips made the decision in Windsor January 2, but by the
next day, Ottawa had announced it was appealing the ruling, according to
globeandmail.com. In his decision, Judge Phillips said a previous Ontario
Court of Appeal Ruling had required Parliament to pass new marijuana laws.
That has not happened, so he ruled that the current possession laws are
invalid.
Here on the islands, Queen Charlotte resident Ken Peerless, who ran for the
Marijuana Party of BC in the last provincial election, said Canada's drug
laws definitely need an overhaul. He cautioned that the ruling does not yet
affect anyone except the teenager charged in the Ontario case.
"The Liberal government is between a rock and a hard place," he said,
speculating that although most Canadians and their politicians want to
decriminalize marijuana, the government is facing pressure from the United
States to keep firm laws in place.
"Islanders would be a whole lot happier if it was decriminalized,
legalized," Mr. Peerless said, "And people who don't smoke pot don't give a
rat's ass."
Pubdate: January 6, 2003
Contact observer@qcislands.net
Website: The Observer
Address: Box 205, 623 7th St., Queen Charlotte, British Columbia, Canada=20
Fax: (250)559-4680
Copyright: 2003 Queen Charlotte Observer
are no longer valid, a decision that could eventually affect the whole country.
Judge Douglas Phillips made the decision in Windsor January 2, but by the
next day, Ottawa had announced it was appealing the ruling, according to
globeandmail.com. In his decision, Judge Phillips said a previous Ontario
Court of Appeal Ruling had required Parliament to pass new marijuana laws.
That has not happened, so he ruled that the current possession laws are
invalid.
Here on the islands, Queen Charlotte resident Ken Peerless, who ran for the
Marijuana Party of BC in the last provincial election, said Canada's drug
laws definitely need an overhaul. He cautioned that the ruling does not yet
affect anyone except the teenager charged in the Ontario case.
"The Liberal government is between a rock and a hard place," he said,
speculating that although most Canadians and their politicians want to
decriminalize marijuana, the government is facing pressure from the United
States to keep firm laws in place.
"Islanders would be a whole lot happier if it was decriminalized,
legalized," Mr. Peerless said, "And people who don't smoke pot don't give a
rat's ass."
Pubdate: January 6, 2003
Contact observer@qcislands.net
Website: The Observer
Address: Box 205, 623 7th St., Queen Charlotte, British Columbia, Canada=20
Fax: (250)559-4680
Copyright: 2003 Queen Charlotte Observer