More pot lawsuits sprout up over Ottawa’s medical marijuana rules

VANCOUVER – The lawsuits challenging new medical marijuana rules continue to pile up, as the federal government loses its bid to delay three recently filed cases in B.C.

The federal government asked a B.C. Supreme Court judge to delay lawsuits filed by three men who each allege the regulations that govern the medical marijuana system are unconstitutional.

The government said those lawsuits should be put on hold until a decision in another case underway in Federal Court, where patients say new rules preventing them from growing their own pot should be struck down.

But the men in the B.C. case say their circumstances are different and they don't want to wait another year to have their arguments heard.

A B.C. Supreme Court judge agrees, concluding the government failed to prove it would be a waste of court time to have the cases heard simultaneously.

Hundreds of lawsuits challenging various aspects of the medical marijuana regulations have been filed across the country in recent months, though most are expected to be delayed until after the Federal Court's decision next year.