Legal Marijuana Policy, passed by BC NDP, 2006

The following policy resolution was passed by the BC NDP Provincial Council in February 2006. This is now the official party policy.

WHEREAS cannabis has a long history of social, religious and medicinal use in a wide variety of cultures around the world,

WHEREAS numerous public opinion polls conducted since 2000 show that most Canadians support eliminating criminal penalties for cannabis,

WHEREAS the value of the Canadian cannabis industry is estimated at between 5 and 20 billion dollars, and that if taxed and regulated this industry would generate substantial revenues for provincial and federal governments,

WHEREAS over 20,000 Canadians are arrested each year just for cannabis possession, taking up a great deal of police and court time and resources,

WHEREAS the laws prohibiting cannabis are federal laws, yet the brunt of the costs of enforcing criminal sanctions against cannabis are borne by the provinces, in paying for the extra policing, court time and imprisonment,

WHEREAS studies into worldwide cannabis law have consistently shown that criminal prohibition of cannabis has little or no effect on the rate of use,

WHEREAS in 1971 the LeDain Commission on Non-Medical Use of Drugs, after exhaustive hearings and research, recommended allowing the cultivation and possession of cannabis for personal use,

WHEREAS the 1995 Report of the Task Force into Illicit Narcotic Overdose Deaths in British Columbia, written by BC's Chief Coroner and commissioned by BC's NDP government, after extensive hearings and research, recommended that the BC Attorney General pursue discussions with the federal government on legalization of cannabis possession,

WHEREAS in 2002 the Canadian Senate issued a comprehensive report on cannabis issues, after extensive research and hearings, which recommended that cannabis should be made legally available to adults and regulated by provincial governments in the same way that they operate the wine industry, plus that Canada's 600,000 criminal records for cannabis possession should be erased, and that access to medical cannabis should be expanded,

WHEREAS the policy of Canada's federal NDP has long included a non-punitive, regulatory approach to cannabis, including a legally regulated and taxed cannabis supply, elimination of penalties for personal possession and cultivation, and amnesty for past possession convictions,

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the BC NDP formally establish an explicit cannabis policy based upon a non-punitive, regulatory approach, including support for a legal supply of cannabis, elimination of all penalties for personal cultivation and possession, and amnesty for past cannabis possession convictions.