Judge dismisses Manitoba man's challenge of provincial homegrown cannabis ban

A Manitoba man's constitutional challenge of the province's ban on homegrown cannabis has been dismissed, but he says his legal battle is far from over.

It's been more than three years since Jesse Lavoie launched his legal challenge of Manitoba's laws around cannabis. While federally, Canadians are allowed to grow up to four cannabis plants, provincial legislation prohibits any home cultivation of non-medical cannabis.

On Friday, Manitoba Court of King's Bench Justice Shauna McCarthy released her decision, dismissing Lavoie's challenge. In the decision, McCarthy says the prohibition against home cultivation is not beyond the power of the jurisdiction of Manitoba's legislature.

While the provincial ban takes a different approach than the federal government and most other provinces, McCarthy said in her decision that it was done to protect the health and safety of the public, including limiting access to cannabis by youth, and preventing homegrown cannabis from winding up on the black market.

Also referenced in the decision was a similar constitutional challenge of Quebec's ban, which prohibits people from possessing and cultivating cannabis plants for personal purposes, was constitutional.

That case went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, which ultimately decided Quebec's ban is constitutional.

But Lavoie said unlike Manitoba, Quebec's ban was put in place to protect a monopoly on cannabis sales.

"They own the distribution centres, and they own the dispensaries," he told CTV News, saying in Manitoba, in contrast, there are privately held cannabis dispensaries and distribution companies.

Lavoie said he plans to launch an appeal of the decision.

"There's two things about me; I don't like to lose and I never give up," Lavoie said. "There's a lot of motivation here and we're not going to stop."

He says he and his lawyers are in the process of writing their appeal application, which again outlines the differences between Manitoba's and Quebec's cannabis legislation.

Lavoie also said he hopes the recently elected NDP provincial government will revisit the legislation and drop the ban.

When asked for comment about the decision, a provincial spokesperson told CTV News that would be a question for Manitoba's Justice Minister once one has been sworn in.

Premier-designate Wab Kinew is expected to be sworn in along with his cabinet on Wednesday.