Canada Upholds Pot Restriction
By David Ljunggren
Reuters
Tuesday, December 23, 2003; 2:26 PM

OTTAWA – Canada's Supreme Court upheld Tuesday laws banning the use of marijuana –– just months before Ottawa is expected to introduce legislation scrapping those very same laws.

Three men convicted of possessing pot had appealed their cases all the way to the nation's top court, saying the threat of imprisonment for using the drug in private was excessive and breached their constitutional rights to life and liberty.

But the court, in a 6–3 split decision, said laws banning the possession and trafficking of pot were reasonable because the drug was widely considered to be dangerous.

"It cannot be said that the prohibition on marijuana possession is arbitrary or irrational, although the wisdom of the prohibition and its related penalties is always open to reconsideration by Parliament itself," it said in the ruling.

"There is no free–standing constitutional right to smoke pot for recreational purposes."

Prime Minister Paul Martin said when Parliament restarted in February, the government would reintroduce legislation to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.