Pubdate: Thu, 12 Dec 2013
Source: Comox Valley Record (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 Comox Valley Record
Contact:  http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/784
Author: Scott Stanfield
Cited: Sensible BC: http://www.sensiblebc.ca/

POT CAMPAIGN FALTERS

The Sensible B.C. campaign did not generate enough signatures to
trigger a referendum calling for the decriminalization of marijuana.

However, the pot activist group plans to launch another
signature-gathering effort, according to its website.

Campaign director Dana Larsen had hoped to trigger a referendum on a
draft bill dubbed the Sensible Policing Act, which would amend the
Police Act to prohibit the use of police resources to enforce simple
possession-and-use laws for adults. It would also demand the federal
government to repeal marijuana prohibition, and the Province to
determine rules needed for a legal marijuana system in B.C. Between
Sept. 9 and Dec. 9, canvassers collected 210,000 of a minimum 312,000
signatures required from 10 per cent of registered voters in each of
B.C.'s 85 ridings.

"It's a matter of money and time," said local activist and canvasser
Ernie Yacub. "The money just wasn't there to put together a good
enough organization to make it in every riding."

Canvassers in the Comox Vally gathered 5,892 signatures, just shy of a
target of 6,000. The minimum was 5,000.

"We made the cut," Yacub said. "We were shooting for 6,000 because we
wanted to make a point. That would have been double the number of
people who actually voted.

"We proved it was doable in a number of ridings," Yacub
added.

Besides the Comox Valley, Alberni-Pacific Rim, Powell River-Sunshine
Coast and two Nanaimo ridings were among 20 districts that exceeded
the 10 per cent threshold. Parksville-Qualicum and four other ridings
were close with more than eight per cent of the electorate signing.

Throughout the campaign, Larsen spoke about cannabis marijuana - the
cost of prohibition, the medicinal therapeutic effects, and the fact
that it's a weed that can grow anywhere.

"We also talked about this process being our opportunity to practise
direct democracy," Yacub said. "We're the only province in Canada that
has this legislation (Initiative and Recall). We can petition for a
referendum, which nobody else in Canada can."

Locally, there were more than 200 canvassers registered, 79 of whom
turned in petition sheets. Yacub credits volunteers for standing on
street corners.

"It was a matter of overcoming the fear factor," he said. "People were
afraid to put their names and addresses. There's a lot of fear around
this issue. I know people who can't talk to their doctors about cannabis.