Pubdate: Fri, 04 Sep 2015 Source: Vancouver 24hours (CN BC) Copyright: 2015 Vancouver 24 hrs. Contact: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/letters Website: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3837 Page: 5 MARIJUANA We start our federal election weekly series on the issue of marijuana legalization, a hotly debated topic in B.C Who doesn't like B.C. bud? It's a big deal in the province, home to a significant number of both legal and illegal growers, and to people like the Prince of Pot himself, Marc Emery. In a poll earlier this summer, Insights West found 67% of British Columbians supported the legalization of marijuana in Canada - only 7% thought pot should always be illegal without exception. There was so much interest in the herb locally that at one point, half of Health Canada's 40,000 patients under the old marijuana access regulations were in B.C. Even today, the province's six licensed producers - the highest count next to Ontario's 14 - indicates the continued interest in cannabis. On the illegal side, according to RCMP data, more than 19,000 plants were seized in properties around B.C. - from Surrey to Quesnel - between November 2014 to February this year. These are just the ones that were caught. One just has to take a look in Vancouver to see how reefer madness has gripped the province. The city is home to an enormous number of marijuana dispensaries who operate outside the law, yet the vast majority conduct their operations without interference from police. It's gotten to such an issue that Vancouver City Hall has enacted regulations requiring all for-profit dispensaries to pay $30,000 per year in fees as an attempt to regulate the growing industry. CONSERVATIVES Incumbent Stephen Harper is straightforward on his stance against drugs. His plan for the country includes a 20% funding increase towards RCMP's anti-drug operations that specifically target clandestine labs and grow operations. His message is simple. Drugs ruin lives, rob youth of their future, tear families apart, make the streets less safe, and destroy communities. Harper has stated recently that, where marijuana is legal, it becomes more available to kids, people get addicted and health outcomes decline. He said marijuana use is currently declining, and cautioned against the dangers of reversing that trend - comparing the drug to tobacco. NDP The New Democrats under Thomas Mulcair's leadership haven't had too much to say on the issue of pot, but it's clear decriminalization is where the NDP stands on it. In a press conference in B.C. recently, Mulcair told reporters no one should "ever" face criminal charges or have a record for the personal use of marijuana. He even suggested an elected NDP government would examine the issue of those already charged and convicted of personal possession. "The NDP's position is to decriminalize the minute we form government - that's something we can do right away," he said. LIBERALS Justin Trudeau's Liberals have formed into a rallying cry of sorts for pot activists across B.C. ever since the Liberals announced their intention to legalize and regulate the drug, much like how alcohol is dealt with today. Trudeau's view is that keeping pot illegal makes it easier for youth to obtain it, and that legalizing marijuana would take the substance off the black market. "If we pass smart laws that tax and strictly regulate marijuana, we can better protect our kids, while preventing millions of dollars from going into the pockets of criminal organizations and street gangs," the Liberal position states. GREENS The Greens under Elizabeth May have just two members in parliament, but their plan for pot is specific. The party agenda says in general addictions should be seen as a health problem, not a criminal one. May seeks to remove pot from the schedule of illegal substances, regulate small-scale independent marijuana growers, tax the drug, and license its medicinal or personal-use sales. However, the party would move to ban all advertising for marijuana products, and target a reduction in marijuana use in the same way current anti-tobacco programs do, as part of a "smoke-free Canada" goal. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom