Matt Mernagh wanted to spend a night at the movies, but instead he spent a night in jail.
The prominent pot activist was arrested for possession of marijuana at Yonge-Dundas Square Tuesday night, even though a judge has ruled he’s legally allowed to consume the drug for medical reasons.
Mernagh had shown up at the square for an outdoor screening of the classic stoner movie Dazed and Confused, during which he and other members of the Toronto Hash Mob had planned to hold a “smoke out.” The square’s management cancelled the movie earlier in the day however, citing bad weather, although skies above were clear at the time.
Mernagh – who uses pot to alleviate the symptoms of fibromyalgia, scoliosis, and arthritic pain – began smoking in the square, and was asked to leave by Yonge-Dundas security. He refused, and security guards called in the police. After Mernagh again declined to leave, he was arrested for possession of marijuana and trespassing.
A video of the incident posted on Youtube shows Mernagh asking officers why they can’t locate the court ruling that has exempted him from the drug laws and sarcastically urging them arrest him for possession after taking several hits from a bong.
“You can’t find my court ruling? Is that what you’re saying?” Mernagh says in the footage.
“Charge me with that. Do it. Let’s go. You’re insulting me… I went to court for five years!”
Police then led him away in handcuffs as a crowd of his friends and supporters jeered.
Mernagh, who has written for NOW Magazine in the past, is in a unique legal situation because while he’s allowed to consume pot, unlike other medical marijuana users in Canada he has no documentation card to prove it.
Health Canada issues licenses to most people deemed eligible to grow and smoke pot for medical reasons, but Mernagh won his exemption by challenging federal laws in court following his 2008 arrest on drug charges.
As a result of his challenge, in April of 2011 an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled that regulations governing access to medical marijuana were unconstitutional because most doctors refuse to buy into the system and the effect is that those with legitimate need for the drug are denied access.
The judge struck down the law, pending an appeal by the Crown. A ruling on the appeal is expected within months, but in the meantime, the judge has ordered that the legislation should no longer apply to Mernagh.
Even though Mernagh told his arresting officers he was doing nothing illegal Tuesday night, according to police spokesperson Constable Wendy Drummond he was charged anyway because he could provide no proof of his right to smoke pot.
“There was nothing to verify those claims,” Drummond said.
While police were not convinced of Mernagh’s legal status, Crown prosecutors were, and charges were withdrawn Wednesday when Mernagh appeared in an Old City Hall courtroom. But that was after he had spent a night in detention at 52 Division, a situation his lawyer, Paul Lewin, says is highly unusual for simple possession cases.
Lewin, who also represented Mernagh during his constitutional challenge, accuses the officers of “wanting to punish” his client.
“I think they knew about [his situation]. From what I’ve heard, it sounds like it was all out of spite. There was no real confusion here,” Lewin says.
“I’m glad the Crowns were sensible and reasonable in court today in withdrawing the charges. But why did Matt have to spend the night in jail? There seems to be absolutely no reason for that whatsoever… That’s a horrible experience, especially for a sick person.”
Lewin says he’s now contemplating a lawsuit against the Toronto Police for wrongful detaining Mernagh. He’s also asking for the return Mernagh’s confiscated marijuana, as well as a bong which he says has sentimental value.
