The owner of a Burlington, restaurant facing a discrimination complaint for not allowing a medical marijuana smoker to light up outside his restaurant is caught between a "regulatory rock and a hard place," the Ontario government acknowledged yesterday.

Ted McMeekin, Ontario's Minister of Government Services, said provincial laws never contemplated the scenario of someone smoking marijuana for medical purposes on a licensed premises.

Ontario's liquor laws prohibit controlled substances from being consumed where alcohol is served. Ted Kindos, owner of Gator Ted's, said he could have lost his licence to serve liquor if he had allowed former patron Steve Gibson to light up outside his restaurant.

Mr. Gibson, who has a licence to smoke marijuana for medical purposes, says he is being discriminated against because he has a disability. The case is set to be heard by the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal this summer.

© 2004 H.U.M.A.N.: Hemp Users Medical Access Network - Toronto Medical Marijuana