Pubdate: Tue, 24 Apr 2012
Source: Kamloops Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Bryan Elliott
Contact:  http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/679
Author: Bryan Elliott

KAMLOOPS COUNCIL COULD LEARN A LESSON FROM VICTORIA

Challenge To Kamloops Mayor And Councillors . . .

At the March 22, 2012, meeting of Victoria City council, the following
motion supporting a regulatory approach to cannabis control was
carried unanimously:

WHEREAS cannabis prohibition efforts have failed to effectively limit
the availability of cannabis, especially to our youth;

WHEREAS cannabis prohibition has created a large financial opportunity
that has fuelled an increasingly violent illegal market with expanding
organized crime involvement;

WHEREAS academic, law enforcement and health experts, including the
Health Officer's Council of BC, believe that a strictly controlled
public health oriented regulatory framework for cannabis control has
the potential to reduce rates of cannabis use, raise substantial tax
revenue, undermine organized crime and save law enforcement time and
expenditures;

WHEREAS many B.C. municipalities are increasingly affected by the
harms of cannabis prohibition (e.g. grow-ops, etc.), which negatively
impacts community health and safety;

WHEREAS B.C. municipalities are increasingly bearing the financial
burden of failed policy approaches that emphasize enforcement of
marijuana prohibition over evidence-based policies, consuming
significant portions of municipal budgets and diverting law
enforcement attention away from criminal activities where police
involvement can better improve community safety;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Victoria supports the
taxation and regulation of cannabis to address the ineffectiveness and
harm of cannabis prohibition, and agrees to write to municipalities in
the Capital Regional District, the Union of B.C. Municipalities, the
Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and provincial and federal
ministers in the Justice and Health departments to inform them of our
support.

It would be interesting to see if Kamloops Council could be as
progressive.

Bryan Elliott

Westwold
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D