Epileptic wins lifetime right to marijuana
Awaits parliament

National Post, with files from The Canadian Press
by Joseph Brean

A man who was granted temporary legal permission to smoke and
grow marijuana to ease his epileptic seizures, has had the right
extended until Parliament recognizes an Ontario court's ruling
that the drug has medicinal uses.

Terry Parker said the ruling, which makes him the only lifetime
legal pot smoker in the country, came as a bittersweet relief.

"Today's not too bad, got an extension, won't be going to jail
[but] I should not be the only civilian in Canada to use
marijuana for epilepsy," he said. "It should be people with
cancer, MS [multiple sclerosis], the whole gamut."

Mr. Parker was first granted the right to grow and possess
marijuana by an Ontario court in 1997, after a lengthy court
battle over drug possession and trafficking charges.

He was convicted of trafficking after police seized dozens of pot
plants from his home in 1996, and he admitted to sharing the drug
with friends who he said also had seizures.

In a landmark decision on the case in July, 2000, the court
dismissed a Crown appeal of Mr. Parker's exemption, and ruled
that "prohibition on the cultivation and possession of marijuana
is unconstitutional." The judge gave a one-year deadline before
Canada's marijuana possession laws would legally "lack force and
effect." The deadline passed with no legislative response.

Mr. Parker, who once again faced prosecution for his use of
marijuana, was given a six-month extension, which ended last
week.

Mr. Justice Romain Pitt's latest ruling puts the onus back on
Parliament to recognize the court's earlier decision that
marijuana has medical uses, and protects Mr. Parker from future
prosecution on possession charges.

Mr. Parker, who says a marijuana joint instantly relieves his
symptoms of pallor, grinding teeth and convulsions, had extensive
financial support for his legal bills -- more that US$25,000 --
from a think tank funded by billionaire philanthropist George
Soros.

He intends to continue his battle against Parliament with the
help of Alan Young, an Osgoode Hall law professor, who will guide
efforts to push new marijuana legislation.

Mr. Parker said he recently took in a two-ounce harvest from the
marijuana plants he grows in a spare bedroom.

Meanwhile, three of five candidates vying to replace Premier Mike
Harris for the leadership of Ontario's law-and-order Conservative
party say they've smoked pot.

Those who admitted it were: Ernie Eves ("Only at Argo [football]
games .. when you had to"), Jim Flaherty ("I didn't like it") and
Chris Stockwell ("I never exhaled").

Those who denied smoking pot were: Tony Clement ("Not even a
cigarette") and Elizabeth Witmer ("I've never had any desire to
do so.")

jbrean@...

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