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Pair Unsuccessfully Argued Marijuana Possession Laws Were Invalid From 2003 To 2009
A Superior Court of Justice judge has rejected any notion held by two medical marijuana users that Canada's marijuana possession laws were invalid for six years and has barred them from filing another application.
Mark MacDonald, 49, and Benny Almud, 68, wanted their charges dismissed because they argued that marijuana possession laws were invalid for 2003 to 2009 because of the landmark Terry Parker case.
Parker, an epileptic, won the right to smoke pot for medicinal purposes in 2000.
Almud and MacDonald were charged before they were approved for medical marijuana licences.
In an eight page written decision released Oct. 27, Madam Justice Cory A. Gilmore sided with the federal prosecutor who presented many court cases showing that MacDonald and Almud's understanding of the effect of the Parker decision was clearly out of place.
The Parker case "did not have the effect of deleting marijuana" from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and only "Parliament can repeal its own legislation," Gilmore wrote.
Parker's legal victory gave medicinal-marijuana users the right to possess less than 30 grams of pot but the presiding judge delayed the ruling's effect for one year in the hope the federal government would introduce a medicinal marijuana law. The government didn't.
Instead, they introduced the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations, which came into force one day before the year-long grace period ended in 2001.
In early 2003, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled those medical access regulations were unconstitutional because they were failing to provide a legal supply of the drug. As a result of the ruling, marijuana possession charges were stayed for about 4,000 people.
The government changed the medicinal marijuana regulation again in 2003, which marijuana activists argue made the laws invalid once more until new changes in 2009.
Gilmore also agreed with the Crown that the men had no standing to make such an argument in superior court and the "proper forum" is at trial in Ontario Court of Justice.
Gilmore dismissed the application "with prejudice."
"The application is prohibited from bringing any further application before the hearing of his trial on the substantive charges herein," she wrote.
MacDonald case is still before the courts. He was charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and some firearms offences in December 2008.
When asked about his reaction to Gilmore's ruling, MacDonald told The Examiner he will appeal but admitted he still needs to learn more about the decision.
Almud pleaded guilty to his charges Sept. 28, the day after the case was heard in superior court.
He told The Examiner he pleaded guilty because he didn't think the application would be successful.
MacDonald was in court Wednesday. He told the judge he's still appealing to Legal Aid to let him change lawyers. His case was put over to Nov. 17.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed:420 MAGAZINE
Source:thepeterboroughexaminer.com
Author: FIONA ISAACSON
Contact: Contact Us - Peterborough Examiner - Ontario, CA
Copyright: 2010 , Osprey Media Publishing Inc
Website:Medical marijuana users lose bid to have charges dismissed - Peterborough Examiner - Ontario, CA
A Superior Court of Justice judge has rejected any notion held by two medical marijuana users that Canada's marijuana possession laws were invalid for six years and has barred them from filing another application.
Mark MacDonald, 49, and Benny Almud, 68, wanted their charges dismissed because they argued that marijuana possession laws were invalid for 2003 to 2009 because of the landmark Terry Parker case.
Parker, an epileptic, won the right to smoke pot for medicinal purposes in 2000.
Almud and MacDonald were charged before they were approved for medical marijuana licences.
In an eight page written decision released Oct. 27, Madam Justice Cory A. Gilmore sided with the federal prosecutor who presented many court cases showing that MacDonald and Almud's understanding of the effect of the Parker decision was clearly out of place.
The Parker case "did not have the effect of deleting marijuana" from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and only "Parliament can repeal its own legislation," Gilmore wrote.
Parker's legal victory gave medicinal-marijuana users the right to possess less than 30 grams of pot but the presiding judge delayed the ruling's effect for one year in the hope the federal government would introduce a medicinal marijuana law. The government didn't.
Instead, they introduced the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations, which came into force one day before the year-long grace period ended in 2001.
In early 2003, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled those medical access regulations were unconstitutional because they were failing to provide a legal supply of the drug. As a result of the ruling, marijuana possession charges were stayed for about 4,000 people.
The government changed the medicinal marijuana regulation again in 2003, which marijuana activists argue made the laws invalid once more until new changes in 2009.
Gilmore also agreed with the Crown that the men had no standing to make such an argument in superior court and the "proper forum" is at trial in Ontario Court of Justice.
Gilmore dismissed the application "with prejudice."
"The application is prohibited from bringing any further application before the hearing of his trial on the substantive charges herein," she wrote.
MacDonald case is still before the courts. He was charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and some firearms offences in December 2008.
When asked about his reaction to Gilmore's ruling, MacDonald told The Examiner he will appeal but admitted he still needs to learn more about the decision.
Almud pleaded guilty to his charges Sept. 28, the day after the case was heard in superior court.
He told The Examiner he pleaded guilty because he didn't think the application would be successful.
MacDonald was in court Wednesday. He told the judge he's still appealing to Legal Aid to let him change lawyers. His case was put over to Nov. 17.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed:420 MAGAZINE
Source:thepeterboroughexaminer.com
Author: FIONA ISAACSON
Contact: Contact Us - Peterborough Examiner - Ontario, CA
Copyright: 2010 , Osprey Media Publishing Inc
Website:Medical marijuana users lose bid to have charges dismissed - Peterborough Examiner - Ontario, CA
