The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
In a bitter defeat for legalization advocates, Canada's top court ruled yesterday that laws prohibiting possession of small amounts of marijuana do not violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the current federal laws by a 6-3 margin, saying that any changes to the laws must be made by Parliament. "We conclude that it is within Parliament's legislative jurisdiction to criminalize the possession of marijuana, should it choose to do so," read the 82-page judgment, co-written by justices Ian Binnie and Charles Gonthier. "Equally, it is open to Parliament to decriminalize or otherwise modify any aspect of the marijuana laws that it no longer considers to be good public policy." Three B.C. marijuana users had challenged the laws, arguing that imprisoning someone for what is arguably a victimless crime violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. "I'm bummed out, man," David Malmo-Levine, one of those men, told reporters. "I was dreaming of a green Christmas but they grinched out on us." Malmo-Levine's lawyers had one key argument in their case: that the government has no right to legislate what people can put in their bodies. Lawyers for the federal government boosted their contentions with a report that connects pot use with drug addiction, respiratory cancer, driving accidents and other problems. The government lawyers argued there is "no free-standing right to get stoned" and that it is Parliament's duty to criminalize behaviour, within reason, as it sees fit. People on both sides of this argument know that the issue is far from over. Prime Minister Paul Martin said last week that his government will reintroduce a bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot. The legislation, which dissolved last month when Parliament shut down, made possession of less than 15 grams of pot a minor offence punishable by fines of $100 to $400.
