Green light for marijuana use

An appeals court in Ontario has ruled that prohibiting the possession of marijuana is unconstitutional.

The court said it came to the decision because the law did not take into account of the drug's medicinal qualities.

The judges gave the federal parliament in Ottawa a year to change the law; otherwise, they said, the relevant legislation would no longer apply in Ontario.

The case was brought by a man who argued that smoking marijuana helped alleviate his epilepsy.

Correspondents say the ruling takes Canada one step closer to legalising marijuana for health purposes.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service