From: brewnoser2@gmail.com   
      
   by Charlie Smith on June 11th, 2015 - the Georgia Strait   
      
      
   Stephen Harper loses again in the Supreme Court of Canada, this time over   
   medical marijuana   
      
      
   Today's ruling on medical cannabis extracts is only the latest in a long   
   series of Conservative government drubbings in the Supreme Court of Canada.   
      
   The highest court determined that the federal ban on non-dried marijuana   
   extracts for medical use is unconstitutional.   
      
   Similarly, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in February that the federal ban   
   on assisted suicide was unconstitutional.   
      
   The Conservative government also lost in December 2013 in a landmark case   
   involving three prostitution laws.   
      
   And when Prime Minister Stephen Harper tried to appoint a Federal Court of   
   Canada judge to fill a Quebec seat on the Supreme Court of Canada, this too   
   was deemed unconstitutional.   
      
   Harper had a hissy fit after that one.   
      
   Then there was the prime minister's attempt at Senate reform without   
   consultation with the provinces—another loss.   
      
   Harper was also blocked by the Supreme Court of Canada in his attempt to shut   
   down Insite, which is the only legal supervised-injection site in the country.   
      
   In addition, the highest court ruled against mandatory minimum sentences for   
   gun-related crimes.   
      
   That wasn't the only tough-on-crime law that failed to meet the constitutional   
   smell test.   
      
   Aspects of the Truth in Sentencing Act were also struck down.  It set strict   
   rules for judges around giving offenders credit for time served while awaiting   
   trial.   
      
   In another case, the court ruled that a Conservative government law taking   
   away early parole from nonviolent, first-time offenders could not be imposed   
   retroactively.   
      
   Once in a while, the government wins, such as with its bill to destroy data   
   from the long-gun registry.   
      
   But more often, such as with the Tsilhqot'in First Nation's claim for   
   aboriginal title, the federal government loses.   
      
   It must be demoralizing for Department of Justice lawyers to so often end up on   
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   the wrong side of constitutional arguments.   
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   Health minister is outraged by Supreme Court of Canada   
      
   Today's decision on cannabis makes a mockery of Health Minister Rona Ambrose's   
   claim earlier this year that marijuana is not a medicine.   
      
   The ruling came down just as Vancouver city council is holding a public   
   hearing on proposed regulations for marijuana dispensaries, which Ambrose   
   wants shut down.   
      
   Ambrose says she's "outraged by the Supreme Court".   
      
   For the sake of people with HIV, multiple sclerosis, Dravet's syndrome,   
   posttraumatic stress disorder, and other serious medical conditions, let's   
   hope that Edmonton voters do to Ambrose what they just did to Jim Prentice's   
   Progressive Conservatives.   
      
   Ambrose is simply not qualified to be health minister, given her lack of   
   understanding of the constitutional rights of patients.   
      
   Is it any wonder that Vancouver physician and author Dr. Gabor Maté once   
   referred to her as Canada's minister of disease?     ヽ(^。^)ノ   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)