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Canada: Legal pot: British Columbians give their views on Washington referendum Frank Luba and Ian Austin The Province Thursday 08 Nov 2012 Voters in those two U.S. states voted to legalize pot, and activists here believe the moves should make it easier for British Columbians to vote in a referendum that’s now in the works. “The war on drugs is over,” said euphoric pot activist David Malmo-Levine, who’s been one of the movers in B.C.’s slowly evolving attitudes toward marijuana laws and enforcement. “This is the beginning of the end. “You put one hole in the dam, the water starts rushing faster, and eventually the dam breaks.” DECRIMINALIZATION CAMPAIGNS Malmo-Levine is curator of herbmuseum.ca, an online presence that includes a five-room physical museum inside “Marc Emery’s Cannabis Culture Headquarters,” a multi-storey complex on West Hastings that’s the de facto nerve centre of the ongoing political campaign to decriminalize B.C. pot. On the third floor, Greg “Marijuana” Williams invites a Province reporter in for a chat, casually rolling a joint and smoking it during the interview. Williams points to SensibleBC.ca, a campaign aimed at getting a B.C. referendum on the ballot, and says Washington’s nearby thumbs-up for pot can only help. “It’s groundbreaking, and it’s very exciting,” said Williams. “With the referendum there being approved, it could relax people enough to vote for it here. “Let the games begin.” ‘TIPPING POINT’ Jodie Emery, who fights for pot reform as her husband languishes in jail, said decades of lobbying is finally paying off. “It’s a victory, for sure,” said Emery. “After decades of trying to educate politicians, we’re finally seeing the tipping point. “It’s different today — now we can point to an example. “It’s a lot of momentum and excitement for our cause.” Tourists Sebastien Milleret and Regina Pecanha thought they’d found a little slice of heaven, toking up along with others in an upstairs lounge. “I’ve been all around the world, and I’ve never seen a place like Vancouver,” said Milleret, who hails from Plouider, France. “The government can make a lot of money off of this.” “There are lot of things worse than weed,” said Pecanha, who’s from Sao Paulo, Brazil. “I think alcohol and tobacco hurt people a lot more.” POLITICAL PATH SFU criminology professor Neil Boyd said the move to decriminalize pot is complicated. While polls show three out of four British Columbians support decriminalization, the federal government is actually toughening up pot laws. “We can’t change the law, but non-enforcement will still have a big impact,” said Boyd, pointing to Vancouver, where pot use is widespread but only six people were charged with possession last year. “There’s been quite a significant change over the last 25 years.” While Premier Christy Clark said Wednesday she’s happy to let the federal government decide, NDP MLA Leonard Krog said momentum is clear. “Nothing is so powerful as an idea whose time has come,” said Krog, who could well be B.C. attorney general by the time a referendum is voted on. “We’ve got three-quarters of British Columbians who are in favour of decriminalization. “I think the numbers are pretty clear, and they’re growing.” RCMP’S VIEW RCMP Sgt. Duncan Pound said police must enforce the laws — but the consequences of breaking the pot laws are decided more on a case-by-case basis. “It’s the RCMP’s job to enforce the laws of Canada,” said Pound, who’s an RCMP federal media relations officer. “Having said that, there is officer discretion, depending on the totality of the situation, the individual involved, and the public interest. “With certain offences, the RCMP will work in partnership with Crown counsel. “There are options to determine what is the most appropriate course of action.” TAKE HEED Liberal MLA and former cop Kash Heed thinks B.C. can learn a lesson from Washington state passing an initiative legalizing marijuana. “If we think that the Americans are tough on crime, I think they are being more realistic on what they can achieve and what they cannot achieve,” said the Vancouver-Fraserview representative who was previously Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General. “They are being realistic about the fact the war on marijuana has been lost and it has been lost for many, many years,” said the longtime Vancouver Police Department officer and former chief constable in West Vancouver. “It’s time to do something else that their constituents want them to do,” he said. “Pay attention to what the Americans have done, not only the regulation and taxation [of marijuana] but what they are doing around medicinal marijuana,” said Heed of 18 U.S. states that allow use of pot for various ailments and 14 states that have decriminalized possession. “We don’t have anything but de facto decriminalization here in Canada and a bit of a bizarre medical marijuana legislation — which is not working.” Also not working, at least in Heed’s opinion, are B.C.’s political leaders. “I’m very disappointed in the lack of leadership coming from [B.C. Premier] Christy Clark and [NDP Opposition Leader] Adrian Dix,” said Heed, who has joined the Stop The Violence B.C. coalition that is backing pot regulation in order to shut down the outlaw gangs producing much of B.C. bud. He pointed to an Angus Reid poll released just last week that found 75 per cent of British Columbians support the taxation and regulation of cannabis ahead of chasing and arresting pot producers and sellers. CAUTION IN VICTORIA But the provincial government isn’t about to follow in Washington’s wake. B.C. Attorney General Shirley Bond said “it’s too early to tell what the implications might be for our province. “This morning, Washington and Colorado were already hearing commentary about how complicated this is going to be for them to implement,” she said. “It’s going to take some time before the logistics of producing and sale and those things will be fully implemented. “We will be watching how Washington in particular moves forward.” The natural assumption is that if Washington can legally supply its own marijuana, it will have less need for B.C. bud. Bond didn’t want to speculate on that. “I think this is not a simple issue,” she said. “If it was a simple issue, it would have been dealt with by jurisdictions much earlier than it has been.” FEDERAL ISSUE There’s an even bigger consideration. “The other thing we have to remember is that is a federal jurisdictional issue,” said Bond. So, while it might be legal to buy pot in Washington state, don’t think you can take any to Canada, according to Faith St. John of Canada Border Services Agency. “Changes to American laws would not affect the Canada Border Services Agency’s mandate,” said St. John in an email. “In Canada, the possession of cannabis is illegal, and it is a criminal offence to import illegal drugs, including cannabis, into Canada.” St. John said there is no plan at this time to increase staffing at the border to deal with what’s happened in Washington. The CBSA is busy dealing with the current situation. “Last year alone, CBSA officers across the country seized $1.8 billion of illicit drugs crossing our borders,” she said. “In the Pacific Region, border services officers seized a little more than 51 kilos of marijuana in 1,300 seizures last year. Four hundred of those seizures were made in the Pacific Highway District.” http://www.theprovince.com/news/Legal+British+Columbians+give+their+views+Washington+referendum/7514879/story.html
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