Pubdate: Fri, 23 Aug 2013
Source: South Delta Leader (Delta, CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 South Delta Leader
Contact:  http://www.southdeltaleader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1241
Cited: Sensible BC: http://www.sensiblebc.ca/

THE TIME HAS COME FOR DRUG LAW REFORM

Failed NDP leadership candidate Dana Larsen and his group Sensible BC
are set to kick off their campaign next month to force a referendum on
marijuana policy. Much like the ultimately successful Fight HST
petition in 2010, Larsen hopes to use the Recall and Initiative Act to
force an end to what he sees as archaic and draconian drug laws.

Specifically, Larsen and his group want to prohibit the use of police
resources in B.C. to enforce drugs laws aimed at the possession and
use of marijuana.

Larsen will need to get more than 10 per cent of registered voters in
each of B.C.'s 85 electoral districts to sign the petition in order to
force a province-wide referendum on the issue. He'll have 90 days to
do it, beginning next month.

Larsen is no doubt emboldened by the success of the Fight HST
campaign, not to mention the recent move by Washington State to
legalize recreational marijuana use there.

And much like the Fight HST campaign led by former political pariah
Bill Vander Zalm, the electorate will have to look past the Larsen's
personal shortcomings and focus on the issue at hand.

Of course it's no secret that Larsen loves to smoke his
pot.

He was a founding member of the Marijuana Party of Canada, former
editor of Cannabis Culture magazine and published a Harry Potter
parody titled, Hairy Pothead and the Marijuana Stone. He was turfed as
an NDP candidate in the 2008 federal election after video footage
surfaced of him taking LSD.

But while Larsen's background might smell skunky to many, it is
important to separate the message from the messenger.

And the message is clear: Marijuana prohibition does vastly more harm
than good.

It's a message that is increasingly finding an audience.

An Ipsos poll conducted last year found that 66 per cent of Canadians
support the decriminalization of marijuana in small amounts.
Twenty-five years ago, that number was just 39 per cent.

It's an encouraging trend.

Marijuana prohibition funds organized crime, wastes taxpayer dollars,
wastes police resources, and makes the drug easier for young people to
obtain.

Larsen should be commended for going after an issue that most
provincial politicians are too afraid to touch. His message is one
that deserves to be heard.
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MAP posted-by: Matt