Elections BC has approved the Sensible Policing Act, a law which would effectively decriminalize marijuana possession in the province, as valid legislation and suitable for a referendum.

“This shows that the provinces do have the power to effectively decriminalize marijuana,” said Dana Larsen, director of the Sensible BC campaign which drafted the legislation. “B.C. politicians can’t say this is solely a federal issue anymore. Our province pays for all the costs of marijuana enforcement, and now we’ve confirmed that B.C. has the jurisdiction to take action and make change.”

Sensible BC now has 60 days before the 90-day signature-gathering period begins on Sept. 9. If the campaign can collect signatures from 10 per cent of the registered voters in each electoral district, the Sensible Policing Act will be put to a referendum in 2014.

“We can start registering canvassers next week,” said Larsen. “We’ll need a few thousand volunteer canvassers to collect the roughly 400,000 signatures required. Anyone who wants to help out and become a canvasser should visit our website at sensiblebc.ca.

“Our polling shows over 70 per cent support in B.C. for the provisions of the Sensible Policing Act. The question for us is, are there enough British Columbians who feel passionately about this issue for us to get the many canvassers and volunteers we need?”

Larsen is currently on tour through B.C.’s Kootenay region, building support and training canvassers for the campaign.

“I’m going to be touring most of the province over the coming weeks,” said Larsen. “We’re working to build awareness and register people as canvassers so they will be able to collect signatures.”