Sensible BC is calling upon the provincial government to pass the Sensible Policing Act.
It would decriminalize cannabis possession for adults and redirect all police in the province from using any police resources for enforcing simple possession of cannabis.
The draft bill will have no impact on any of the laws around cultivation, trafficking or possession for the purposes of trafficking, but it would work toward a legally regulated system for cannabis.
Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett says anyone following Elections BC guidelines has the right to propose a legal initiative and adds she will be “interested” to see what happens.
“I think it is a huge, huge issue.”
Barnett explains she has “some concerns,” but won’t take a public stance on the issue until she sees the particulars of how the bill would be implemented and controlled.
The local MLA wants to know more about the intent of the initiative, and how it will work with the federal government and “our cross-border partners” in the United States.
“How is this going to be controlled? What is the amount of cannabis a person can have? What is the legal limit in the body? There are all these things to be taken into consideration.”
Barnett adds she believes the public will also want answers to these questions before making a decision.
Cariboo-Chilcotin NDP candidate Charlie Wyse says he “commends” Sensible BC for taking efforts to move the issue along by using the legally-defined tools of the democratic system to obtain a decision by government.
“The decriminalization of marijuana is stuck at the government level and we [NDP] understand why a citizens’ initiative is being taken to break that impasse.
“I personally wish them all their best in this item.”
Cariboo-Chilcotin Independent candidate Gary Young says he agrees with Sensible BC that police resources should be put to “better use.”
“It doesn’t take much to find the people who need those resources.”
Young says he watched a similar effort unfold in a small town in Colorado where they had a by-registration-only marijuana dispensary that left “no ill effects” on the community.
“Let’s take the bull by the horns and do something. There’s nothing evil in [the bill].”
The initiative looks after all of the minor aspects of simple cannabis use, he adds, yet doesn’t impede police investigations into trafficking or other “major things” and frees up those resources.
More information on the Sensible BC campaign is available online at www.SensibleBC.ca.
