B.C. pot advocate Dana Larsen to challenge Police Act with petition initiative

VANCOUVER – A marijuana advocate is launching a campaign to change the Police Act, and if he’s successful police resources would no longer go towards enforcing pot possession and use of cannabis by adults in British Columbia.

Elections BC has approved in principle an initiative petition filed by Dana Larsen, who ran unsuccessfully for the leadership of B.C.’s New Democrats.

Larsen’s draft bill, entitled the Sensible Policing Act, also proposes that the province would call upon the federal government to repeal marijuana prohibition laws, or give B.C. an exemption.

Elections BC says after the petition is issued to Larsen Nov. 19 he’ll have 90 days to collect the signatures of more than 10 per cent of registered voters in each of B.C.’s 85 electoral districts.

However Larson says he won’t be gathering signatures, and hopes to use this petition to campaign for volunteers and raise money for a larger initiative campaign against marijuana laws next fall.

Larson says he’ll need several thousand volunteers to raise a minimum of 400,000 signatures and several hundred thousand dollars.