Canadian marijuana activist and business owner Chris Clay lost his bid to strike down federal laws outlawing the use of marijuana. Clay launched his constutitional challenge with the assistance of Toronto law professor Alan Young and attorney Paul Burstein after law enforcement officials raided his retail store in London, Ontario in December 1996 for selling non-sterilized marijuana seeds.
Clay challenged the validity of Canada’s present laws outlawing marijuana on several grounds. Citing a 1988 Canadian Supreme Court decision affirming a woman’s right to an abortion, he argued that Canadians have a right to make autonomous decisions with respect to their bodily integrity and security. Clay also relied on a 1975 Alaskan Supreme Court decision asserting that an individual’s right to privacy embodied the right to cultivate small amounts of marijuana in one’s home. He further argued that the current law is overly vague, and that it is arbitrary for Parliament to criminalize conduct which is relatively harmless.
The case was decided late Thursday afternoon.
For more information, please contact attorney Paul Burstein at (416) 204-1825 or visit the Hemp Nation website at: www.hempnation.com.