A federal court judge in Canada has struck down regulations restricting the rights of medical marijuana patients to grow their own cannabis.
According to CBC News, Judge Michael Phelan ruled on Wednesday morning that the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations—which were introduced in 2013 and required patients to buy cannabis from licensed producers instead of growing their own—have no force and effect. However, he suspended the declaration for six months in order to give the federal Liberal government time to come up with new rules.
In addition, Phelan ordered that the injunction allowing certain authorized patients to grow marijuana will remain in effect.
The case, which Phelan heard between February and May 2015 in Vancouver, was launched by four British Columbia residents who argued that the regulations violated their charter rights. Moments after the judge’s decision was announced, Kirk Tousaw, the attorney who represented the medical marijuana patients, tweeted: “Win!”
BY SATIVA VON TEESE, HIGH TIMES
