COMMENT: Lawmakers need to catch-up with changing society
IT WAS a court case that moved a magistrate to do something he had not done before - to downgrade a sentence on compassionate grounds.
And the case that so moved him would move the coldest of hearts among us - an elderly man providing marijuana to ease his dying life-partner's pain.
The man was charged with manufacturing and possessing marijuana and faced a possible stiff sentence and heavy fine.
But when magistrate Bevan Manthey heard that the man's wife had been terminally ill with cancer - and had died the day the police raided their house - he could not help but be moved.
In handing down a sentence downgrade the magistrate said: "I've never done this before but each case must be dealt with on a case-by-case basis."
Some among us would say the case should never have reached the court.
They would be among an increasing number of people who believe that the use of marijuana - sometimes the only effective pain-relief drug - for cancer sufferers should be allowed.
The decision came as the Federal Legal Constitional Affairs Legislation Committee recommended a new regulator of medical marijuana. If this led to its lawful use, it would help secure true justice for these sufferers.
