Pubdate: Fri, 11 Oct 2013
Source: Cowichan News Leader (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 Cowichan News Leader
Contact:  http://www.cowichannewsleader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1314
Author: Ashley Degraaf

NDP ENDORSES SENSIBLE APPROACH

Wants referendum: Local party members endorse petition aimed at 
decriminalizing pot

The executive of the Cowichan Valley NDP Constituency Association is 
standing behind the de-criminalizing possession of pot campaign.

And that includes its president, Rob Douglas.

"There is a growing gap between government policy and public opinion 
on the issue of marijuana de-criminalization," said Douglas in a 
press release. "Clearly big changes are needed, and the reforms being 
called for by the Sensible BC initiative appear to be a step in the 
right direction."

NDP leaders at federal and provincial levels have declared their 
support for de-criminalization.

B.C. NDP leader Adrian Dix clearly stated so during the televised 
debate of the May 2013 general election, while federal NDP leader 
Thomas Mulcair was recently seen signing the Sensible B.C. banner.

Sensible B.C. is proposing an amendment to the Police Act that would 
instruct law enforcement officials not to use any money, time or 
resources on cases of simple possession of marijuana, similar to the 
approach British Columbia and several other provinces took in 
refusing to expend any resources in enforcing the Firearms Act 
because they did not support the Long Gun Registry.

The amendment would not affect any of the laws around trafficking, 
possession for the purposes of trafficking, or cultivation.

"It simply does not make sense that a person should get arrested, 
charged and given a criminal record for the rest of their life just 
for possessing a small amount of marijuana for their personal use," 
said Douglas. "And let's not forget our police have very limited 
time, money and resources, and these should to be used to fight real crime."

Sensible B.C. needs to collect signatures from 10% of the registered 
voters in every single one of B.C.'s 85 electoral districts before 
Nov. 30, 2013.

If it's successful, a referendum would be held in September 2014.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom