Ottawa, Ontario: Canada’s Supreme Court heard arguments this week alleging that national laws prohibiting the non-medical use of marijuana violate Canadians’ guaranteed rights to life, liberty and personal security.
Defendants David Malmo-Levine and Victor Eugene Cain are appealing a 2-1 decision by the British Columbia Court of Appeals in June 2000 that upheld the constitutionality of Canada’s pot laws. In that decision, the majority admitted, “The risk posed by marijuana is not large,” but ruled that marijuana law reform must come from Parliament, not the courts. However, dissenting judge Jo-Anne Prowse disagreed, opining that the provisions of the Narcotic Control Act infringed upon the appellants fundamental rights under Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The high court consolidated the Malmo-Levine/Cain case with that of marijuana activist Christopher Clay, who lost a separate trial in 1997. The court was initially set to hear arguments in the three cases last December, but postponed the hearing after Justice Minister Martin Cauchon announced that Parliament intended to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of pot. That policy change remains pending, and Parliament is expected to consider marijuana decriminalization legislation in June.
No decision is expected from the Supreme Court for several months.
For more information, please contact Keith Stroup, Executive Director of NORML, at (202) 483-5500 or John Conroy, Director of Canada NORML, at (604) 852-5110.