Feds appeal ruling that gives medical marijuana growers a temporary reprieve

OTTAWA – The federal government is appealing an injunction that allows people to continue to grow medical marijuana while a full legal challenge plays out in the courts.

It is the latest salvo in a series of legal actions over how the government administers its medical pot program.

Earlier this month, Federal Court Judge Michael Manson ruled that patients currently licensed to grow their own marijuana will be permitted to produce the drug even after new regulations banning the practice take effect Tuesday.

The judge granted an application from a group of medical marijuana patients who asked for a temporary injunction to preserve the status quo until their constitutional challenge of the new system could be heard.

The government says it will ask the Federal Court of Appeal to overturn the injunction.

However, the injunction stands for the moment, meaning patients can continue to grow pot — at least until the next ruling.

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