TORONTO - Ottawa is appealing an Ontario court ruling that, if left to stand, could make the possession of marijuana legal in the province. The Public Prosecution Office of Canada announced Tuesday that it has filed a notice of appeal with Ontario's top court in respect to Justice Donald Taliano's April 11 ruling. The appeal states that Taliano made critical errors in law by declaring the federal medical marijuana program unconstitutional. Taliano ordered that Ottawa fix the program by July or face the prospect of effectively legalizing marijuana. The judge's decision came in a criminal case involving Matthew Mernagh, 37, of St. Catharines, who was unable to obtain a medical marijuana licence. Mernagh's lawyer, Paul Lewin, has said that he's confident the decision will be upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal. Mernagh, who suffers from fibromyalgia, scoliosis, seizures and depression, began to grow his own pot and was eventually charged with producing the drug. In a ruling released last week, Taliano says sick people cannot get access to medical marijuana through appropriate means and must resort to illegal actions such as growing their own supply. As a result, ill people who should be able to get the drugs are branded as criminals, the decision said. The St. Catharines justice declared the program to be invalid, as well as the laws prohibiting possession and production of cannabis, since they can be used to criminally charge medical users unable to get the drugs through legal avenues. Taliano found that doctors across the country widely ignored Health Canada's medical marijuana program and refused to sign off on forms that allow sick people to legally obtain cannabis.
What This is basically saying is The Federal Government of Canada has 90 days to reform their medical marijuana laws or marijuana will become completely legal nationwide on july 10 2011. Any Thoughts?
i think it's too good to be true. it will be like the recent (almost) US government shutdown, and they will "reform" it or make some bill to extend the time at the last minute. hey i'm just not trying to get my hopes up, it would be so cool if it went legal.
as long as harper doesn't win his argument against pot is that 'it's bad' not bad for you, but it's just 'bad'
Didn't even read the thread just wanted to say, I'm Canadian and my birthday is July 10th. It may be the greatest day of all time. Happy 420.
If the court hears this appeal (which they will) they will probably grant a stay on the ruling until after the appeal, so if it happens it's gonna take longer than 90 days i think
It's either 90 days to legalize, or appeal. But if they appeal, they still have to fix it. At least that's my understanding. Domino's man. Also, anyone notice this Just thought that was kinda cool. Link.
Okay.. The whole point of this.. Taliano appealed that the medical marijuana laws in Canada change, and due to those being federal laws, it'd make it legal country-wide; IF the appeal goes through. These medical marijuana laws also have to due with "recreational use", therefore also concerning smoking pot for recreational use. But really, with a conservative government in place, do you really think that this is going to be allowed to go any further than it already has? No, this will make it close to the designated due date, and it'll be completely shut down. Even if it IS shut down though, this proves to many Canadians that one person can make a difference in the battle towards legalization of cannabis. This all started because ONE judge challenged the whole Canadian judicial system. My point being.. A conservative government is very likely to make this whole thing dissipate, but once the people realize that one person can change the entire course of the battle for legalization, we'll most likely be within a year or two of the full thing anyways. Fun fact: 2010 studies by HIGHTIMES have shown that if the global cannabis use were to be on a scale, compared to Canada.. Canadians use on average 4x more cannabis than the rest of the world combined. O CANABIS! WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE! Peace and Pot y'all.
Regardless of the outcome, every time this kinda thing makes mainstream news more of the general public does some research, or begins to question why it's illegal in the first place. Change is coming, and a non-conservative vote is on the way. I've never seen this much activity with the youth vote. Do I think it's going to be legal? No. But it will be easier for medical patients who need the herb to get it and that's a huge step in the right direction. And that is a sweet statistic
I don't know if your forgetting that there is an election on may 2nd and the chance of harper becoming prime minister again is looking slimmer and slimmer, even if ignattief gets in and has a minority government the liberals will still have more say than the conservatives being how the liberal voting numbers in this country are growing every day while the conservatives are losing votes. I myself happen to be conservative but i disagree with harpers marijuana laws. i'm suprised that no candidates have come forward and used this chance for legalization as part of their platform yet.
Legalization won't be part of the platform because although many Canadians do use cannabis on a regular basis, it's generally a second term thing. And I haven't forgotten about the election coming up, but just remember.. If one wins and gets a minority government, the opposing faction may rescind any enactment that the liberals may put in place. It DOES put the counter culture in a better place to gain legalization status, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to happen. I guess we'll have to see what happens in the near future. O CANNABIS! WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE! Peace and Pot y'all.
Another thing if I may add.. If the liberals get a minority government, they won't try to get full legalization status, because the opposing party may start a non-confidence vote, thus putting us into another election, and losing out on having a liberal government.
You don't know that. All they have to do is tweak the law somewhat for greater access to Medical weed.
This is untrue. The government would have to regulate THEIR supply as well, they'd have to change the laws (which isn't a very fast process), and they'd have to do it properly. All before the may 2nd elections.
Not nation wide, its provincial, my father is apart of the court, and says for 100% it wont happen it will be reformed at the last second
He should check again because it will legalize countrywide if passed. But he may be wrong because the elections are coming up on May 2nd, and this may give us enough time for a liberal/NDP government to come into place and let it pass.
It doesn't matter what party is elected. Never let the government forget that they work for YOU. If enough people support legalization, it will happen. Regardless of who is voted in, I encourage all of you to write to your MP asking for reform. If the MP's get enough letters that they believe the demand for legalization is representative of the population, we could see a bill pushed through, or possibly a referendum. I know it's a lot of work to actually ask the government for the things that you want, but unless we ask for it, we will not see change.