The Crown on Monday urged Ontario’s Court of Appeal to overturn a controversial ruling that struck down the federal legislation governing access to medical marijuana.

The case centres on Toronto marijuana activist Matthew Mernagh, who launched a constitutional challenge after being charged with producing marijuana illegally. The trial judge accepted Mernagh’s position that the federal Marihuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR) constitute an unfair barrier for sick people, and struck down both the MMAR and sections of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act banning marijuana production and possession. That ruling is on hold pending the outcome of the federal government’s appeal.

Before three Appeal Court judges Monday, Crown attorney Croft Michaelson rejected the trial judge’s findings as “extravagant and wholly unsupported by the record.”

Michaelson said Justice Donald Taliano made numerous errors in finding that Canadian doctors have engaged in a “massive boycott” of the medical marijuana program, leaving many needy patients with nowhere to turn.

“You cannot say on this record that the majority of physicians in Canada are opposed to the MMAR … It’s mere speculation,” Michaelson said, citing an insufficient evidentiary basis for the judge’s conclusions.

Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/health/Crown+urges+Ontario+court+overturn+medical+marijuana+ruling/6580567/story.html#ixzz1uEWo6UgH

Eight British Columbia mayors are calling on the provincial Liberal provincial government to legalize cannabis in an effort to reduce crime associated with the marijuana trade.

The mayors, including Vancouver’s Gregor Robertson, sent a letter Thursday to Premier Christy Clark and opposition party leaders urging them to support the regulation and taxation of cannabis.

“As mayors of BC municipalities, we are fully aware of the harms stemming from the province’s large illegal marijuana industry,” the letter stated. “Our communities have been deeply affected by the consequences of marijuana prohibition including large-scale grow-ops, increased organized crime and ongoing gang violence.

“It is time to tax and strictly regulate marijuana under a public health framework; regulating marijuana would allow the government to rationally address the health concerns of marijuana, raise government tax revenue and eliminate the huge profits from the marijuana industry that flow directly to organized crime.”

Read more: http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/content/2012/04/26/BC-Mayors-Want-Marijuana-Legalized

Politicians across Vancouver Island supported a motion to decriminalize marijuana at the annual conference for the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities in Ucluelet.

Approximately 75% of the 240 delegates at the conference supported a motion to urge the federal government to decriminalize marijuana, a move they say would reduce crime and create additional revenue.

“Marijuana prohibition” has resulted in “millions of dollars in police, court, jail and social costs,” stated the recommendation.

Read more: http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/content/2012/04/17/Support-Decriminalization-Pot-Vancouver-Island

A community along B.C.’s Sunshine Coast is considering whether to implement special zoning for medical marijuana, allowing large-scale commercial operations in industrial and agricultural areas.

Councillors in the District of Sechelt have agreed to consider a draft bylaw that would allow commercial marijuana farms on some industrial or agricultural lands in the community, located a short ferry ride north of Vancouver.

Read more: http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/content/2012/04/17/BC-Town-Mulls-Large-Scale-Legal-Grow-Ops