Victoria pot baker readies for court challenge of marijuana laws

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The former head baker of the Victoria Cannabis Buyers’ Club heads to Ottawa today in hopes of overturning Canada’s medical marijuana laws and securing the right for patients to use cannabis oils, cookies, teas and lotions.

Owen Edward Smith will appear before the Supreme Court of Canada on Friday after victories at the B.C. Court of Appeal and B.C. Supreme Court.

It’s the first time Canada’s highest court has heard a medical marijuana case.

Smith was arrested at a Victoria apartment in 2009 and charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking THC after police found pot cookies and other cannabis-infused foodstuffs on the premises.

Smith’s lawyer, Kirk Tousaw, successfully argued before the lower courts that Canada’s laws are unconstitutional because they restrict seriously ill patients to possessing and smoking “dried marijuana,” while barring them from using other cannabis products.

The B.C. Supreme Court judge found that the regulations violated...

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URL: 
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/victoria-pot-baker-readies-for-court-challenge-of-marijuana-laws-1.1796014