I talked a little bit earlier about Ontario Superior Court judge Donald Taliano's finding that Ontario's medical marijuana program is unconstitutional, and his decision that, in about three months, could pretty much legalize the production, possession, and consumption of pot in Ontario.
Naturally, the federal government simply can't stand for this, and are appealing Taliano's decision to the Ontario Court of Appeal. As reported by CTV:
"The Public Prosecution Office of Canada announced Tuesday that it has filed a notice of appeal with Ontario's top court in respect to Justice Donald Taliano's April 11 ruling.
"The appeal states that Taliano made critical errors in law by declaring the federal medical marijuana program unconstitutional.
"Taliano ordered that Ottawa fix the program by July or face the prospect of effectively legalizing marijuana.
"The judge's decision came in a criminal case involving Matthew Mernagh, 37, of St. Catharines, who was unable to obtain a medical marijuana licence."
A lot of people seem to feel that an unelected judge cannot be allowed to make decisions like Taliano's, and that decisions about things like marijuana legalization should be left up to our elected representatives.
Fair enough. The only problem is, our elected representatives aren't going to do one g*ddamned thing about marijuana legalization any time soon. Taliano's decision would do in three months what years of political stalling have failed - or outright refused - to do. On this, I tend to be an ends-justify-means kind of guy: if we have to go the route of the courts to restore a basic liberty - our ability to eat, drink, or smoke whatever the hell we feel like - then so be it.
The appeal states that Taliano made critical errors in law by declaring the federal medical marijuana program unconstitutional.........
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Your accommodation to legal activism, on being an ends justify the means kind of guy, completely misses the central point to my mind. The implication of your comment is that the judiciary is a second choice to the legislature, but I think that's entirely wrong. The legislature is nothing but an instrument by which some wield the state's monopoly of violence for their own purposes. The democratic state is immoral and corrupt to the core -- not to mention incompetent to add a little insult to injury. In a free society all such matters would be decided in courts -- though they would be market-based courts so that judges' livelihoods depended upon providing soundly reasoned decisions consistent with legal precedent and in keeping with prevalent social norms. So, the situation in Ontario is still far from perfect, but we shouldn't be apologizing for side stepping the corrupt apparatus of the state's legitimation mechanism of the democratic process.
When all is said and done, our appropriate stance, probably, is bemused by-stander.
The legalization of marijuana is still the most debated issue nowadays by the fact that many people are still worrying if we can all be disciplined in using such weed. As this, it has proven to be similar to crabgrass in the United States Congress; it is very hard to wipe out. Bi-partisan legislation sponsored by Massachusetts’s Rep. Barney Frank and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas seeks to get rid of control over marijuana from the federal government's iron hold. According to Reason, states will then have the ability to decide independently the best way to handle cannabis, including how to get tax revenue. The proof is here: Frank-Paul pot bill seeks to legalize marijuana
I think Ron Paul is our hope for a better policy... drug laws have made me leave the country 3 years ago. I was diagnosed with chronic asthma and advised to use marijuana as a medicine. This has caused me to get in a whole lot of trouble as state and government laws don't allow this everywhere. I have decided to go and live with my brother in the Netherlands who is also suffering from the same decease. We are now even growing our own White Widow plants every summer on our small balcony.
neighbors caring about it. I hope Ron Paul can make a difference in the end.
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