Marijuana laws will go up in smoke if B.C.’s civic leaders have their way.
Delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Victoria voted Wednesday to lobby the federal government to decriminalize marijuana.
“We want to put control in the hands of regulators,” said Kevin Acton, Lumby mayor, who raised his hand in favour of the resolution.
“By being illegal, we keep activities underground.”
Acton is convinced decriminalizing marijuana will assist police by negatively impacting gangs.
“It takes away dollars from the people doing other illegal activities,” he said.
“Let’s use the money to fight real crime. Figures show that one-quarter of people in B.C. are using marijuana recreationally so if that many people are using it, maybe the law has to change.”
Acton hopes the federal government will consider the proposal from mayors and councillors.
“You’d think with this many local governments involved, this would carry some weight,” he said.
Also voting for the resolution was Chris Pieper, Armstrong mayor.
“It provides an opportunity to get into a conversations on how we do this,” said Pieper.
“We’re trying to rationalize how we deal with this serious problem.”
Vernon Mayor Rob Sawatzky wasn’t at Wednesday’s vote but he backs decriminalization.
“It’s nice to see evidence and rationality applied to public policy,” he said.
Sawatzky believes it’s reasonable for municipalities to apply pressure on Ottawa.
“We’re responsible for crime and policing and this results from federal policy,” he said.
A strong push for decriminalization has also come from Enderby.
“If we can reduce crime, it’s worth looking at,” said Coun. Brad Case.
The resolution approved by UBCM delegates was brought forward by the District of Metchosin.
“For too long, our communities have borne the brunt of the harmful consequences of cannabis prohibition, from increased gang violence on our streets to enormous costs of enforcing a thoroughly discredited policy,” said John Ranns, Metchosin’s mayor.
“This vote result signals that it is time for our senior levels of government to listen to what the public and now our municipal leaders are saying: cannabis prohibition has been a failure.”
