No marijuana at the Kelowna Law Courts - medicinal or otherwise!

The Ministry of the Attorney General says its "regrettable" a Kelowna man was thrown in jail on Friday for carrying marijuana into the court house. This, despite having a Health Canada card that allows him to smoke the drug for medicinal purposes.

While its not regular procedure to send authorized marijuana smokers to the slammer, ministry spokesperson Dave Townsend says its the Sheriff's job to keep court-houses safe.

"It is illegal to bring illicit drugs into a court house," says Townsend, "and that is why the sheriffs questioned this individual when it appeared he was under the influence of drugs, and smelling of marijuana."

Townsend says the fact the man was not carrying any other identification didn't help his case.

In a bid to prevent this from happening again, BC Court Services is informing staff to contact Health Canada with an inquiry about marijuana authorizations.

Charmaine de Silva - Kelowna