Marijuana activist to be issued petition in effort to decriminalize pot

VICTORIA – A marijuana activist in British Columbia has been granted approval to launch an official petition in an effort to decriminalize pot as he aims to get registered voters in the province to support the plan.

Elections BC will issue the initiative petition to Dana Larsen on Sept. 9, after which he has 90 days to gather the signatures of 10 per cent of voters in each of B.C.’s 85 ridings.

If he achieves that, a committee of the legislature could choose to either send the matter to the legislature for a vote or call a provincewide, non-binding referendum.

The petition calls for changes to the Police Act to prohibit the use of provincial police resources to enforce simple possession-and-use laws for adults found with small amounts of pot.

Elections BC chief electoral officer Keith Archer says individuals or organizations intending to oppose the initiative, conduct any advertising or canvass for signatures must file their application by Aug. 12.

Larsen’s petition is part of B.C.’s unique citizen’s initiative legislation and such efforts have only succeeded once before, prompting a referendum that led to the scrapping of the harmonized sales tax.