Pubdate: Sat, 02 Nov 2013
Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 Nanaimo Daily News
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608
Author: Ben Ingram
Cited: Sensible BC: http://www.sensiblebc.ca

SENSIBLE B.C. FOUNDER SAY HE IS NOT WORRIED

Sensible B.C. founder Dana Larsen says he is not worried that an 
organizer with the campaign's Nanaimo-North Cowichan chapter is 
facing drug charges. Barbara Kohlman's next scheduled court 
appearance was set for Nov. 25, when a decision related to two 
charges under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act is expected to 
be handed down.

Kohlman has been charged with production of a controlled substance 
and possession for the purpose of trafficking, in relation to 
marijuana cultivation. The charges were the result of a federal-level 
RCMP investigation that led to the execution of a search warrant on 
her home on Sept. 18, 2012, prior to the campaign.

Sensible B.C. is roughly a third of the way to complete its goal and 
obtain signatures from 10 per cent of registered voters in each of 
the province's 85 constituencies, in hopes of triggering a referendum 
on pot decriminalization.

"I'd be surprised if she's the only person on our campaign who's 
either facing charges or has charges related to marijuana," said 
Larsen. "She wasn't engaged in any kind of violence or any kind of 
criminality other than cultivating cannabis."

The charges Kohlman faces are an example of the kind of legislation 
Sensible B.C. hopes to one day stamp out completely.

As the deadline approaches, the campaign has more than doubled its 
legion of canvassers and now boasts some 3,500 people to gather the 
needed signatures. Larsen said the group wants to redirect police 
resources from issues of pot possession and "figure out how we're 
going to legalize it." Kohlman said she was confident the court would 
decide in her favour.

She was hesitant to comment, for fear of compromising the campaign.

"We've only got a month and a day or two to get the campaign 
finished, so I don't want my story or anybody else's story, really, 
to jeopardize any of that," she said. The deadline for Sensible 
B.C.'s goal has been set for Dec. 5.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom