A group advocating for marijuana legalization has given the B.C. Liberals the lowest mark of three major parties running in the provincial election.
Sensible B.C. declared in an email to supporters today that B.C. Liberal Leader Christy Clark ‘has not committed herself to any sort of cannabis policy at all’.
‘Despite holding power for 16 years, the BC Liberals have never once seriously talked about cannabis policy,’ wrote Sensible B.C. director Dana Larsen. ‘They have offered no comment on the spread of dispensaries, and completely ignored the 2013 Sensible B.C. campaign which collected over 200,000 signatures in 90 days to support decriminalization in B.C.’
The message points out that Clark has previously said that the legal age to use cannabis should be at least 19.
‘She wants cannabis taxes to go towards paying for the increased health care and higher law enforcement costs which she says will result from legalization,’ Larsen added. ‘Clark has refused to give any idea of how her party would proceed on cannabis, saying only that she would gather an expert panel of police officers and health officials and follow their advice. This could be a slow process and lead to a very restrictive system.’
The B.C. Greens and the B.C. NDP fared better, each scoring a C+.
‘Andrew Weaver is the only party leader to use the phrase ‘craft cannabis’ and to acknowledge the importance of cannabis growers to B.C.’s local economy,’ Larsen stated. ‘He has expressed concern about B.C.’s cannabis industry being taken over by ‘big multinationals.’ Says he supports cannabis being sold in a manner similar to ‘craft breweries,’ but also from liquor stores and pharmacies.’
On the downside, according to Larsen, Weaver has not promised to immediately stop arresting people for possession or explained how he will protect the provincial craft cannabis industry when the feds issue licences.
Larsen praised Horgan for sending two MLAs to the United States last year to study legal cannabis systems. The B.C. NDP leader has also said cannabis taxes must be kept low enough so that legal marijuana can compete.
‘Horgan has met with dispensary operators to discuss the role of dispensaries under legalization,’ Larsen noted. ‘Horgan says he supports cannabis being sold from many outlets, with a model that is ‘a hybrid’ of private beer and wine stores, pharmacies, cannabis dispensaries, liquor stores and the craft beer model.’
Moreover, NDP candidates such as Melanie Mark, Nicholas Simons, Spencer Chandra Herbert, and Rob Fleming ‘have worked to support their local cannabis dispensaries over the years’.
Like Weaver, Horgan has not promised to halt the arrest of people for possessing cannabis, nor was anything marijuana-related included in the NDP platform.
In 2011, Larsen ran for B.C. NDP leader on a pro-legalization platform. When it became clear that he wasn’t going to win, he threw his support behind Horgan.
