Pubdate: Fri, 29 Nov 2013
Source: Kelowna Capital News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013, West Partners Publishing Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.kelownacapnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1294
Author: Alistair Waters

MARIJUANA MESSAGE SENT TO PREMIER FROM HER RIDING

Pot proponent Dana Larsen says he hopes Premier Christy Clark, as
someone who has all but admitted smoking marijuana in the past, will
heed the wishes of her constituents who have signed his group's
petition calling for a change to marijuana laws in B.C.

Larsen was handed the petition from Clark's Westside-Kelowna riding
Thursday afternoon at a news conference downtown. More than 4,600
signatures on it, more than the 10 per cent of registered voters
signatures required as part of a provincial campaign to force a
referendum on the issue of police enforcement of BC pot possession
laws.

Earlier in the day, local campaign spokesman Mark Conlin said while
the collection of names in Kelowna-Lake Country and Kelowna-Mission is
proving difficult, organizers here were delighted to surpass the
number needed in Clark's riding.

"We're very, very pleased," he said. "Having the premier's riding
sends a message."

Under the rules governing B.C. referendums, Sensible B.C. has 90 days
to collect the signatures of at least 10 per cent of registered voters
in all 85 ridings in the province. The deadline is Dec. 9 but Sensible
BC is aiming to have all campaigns wrapped up by Dec. 4.

Larsen said there have been challenges in places like the Fraser
Valley and the Cariboo but with two weeks to go, his group is not giving up.

If the campaign is not successful, however, he said Sensible BC will
attempt it again "sooner rather than later."

Sensible BC wants the government to either hold a referendum on
stopping the use of police resources in B.C. to enforce the
prohibition on small amounts of marijuana for personal use and start
talking to the federal government about decriminalization of the
drug-or to do both without holding a vote.

It is collecting signatures under the strict guidelines of B.C.'s
recall and referendum law.

In B.C., the only successful campaign under the law was the one that
led to the repeal of the Harmonized Sales Tax.

With the campaign now wrapped up in Westside-Kelowna, gathering
signatures in both Kelowna-Lake Country and Kelowna-Mission will be
the focus for the 188 local canvassers, said area campaign organizer
Cindy Heemeryk.

So far only 2,000 signatures, out of the required 4,511, have been
gathered in Kelowna-Mission and 3,000, out of the required 4,495, have
been collected in Kelowna-Lake Country.

"It's going to be tough in (Kelowna-) Mission," said Conlin earlier in
the day.

But, he added, canvassers have noticed a marked improvement in the
collection numbers now that they are going door to door.

He said in retrospect , door-to-door collection should have started
earlier, adding people appear to want canvassers to come to them, as
opposed to canvassers being at events around town and expecting the
public to seek them out.

But Larsen defended the strategy of being at public events, saying it
raised the campaign's profile in the beginning.

Meanwhile, the provincial government has refused to support the
Sensible BC's campaign until there are changes made to federal laws.
Campaigners point out that part of what they are asking for is for
Victoria to start talking to Ottawa about changes to federal marijuana
possession law enforcement.

The Sensible BC campaign comes after U.S. voters in Washington State
and Colorado voted to legalize marijuana last year.
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MAP posted-by: Matt