NDP Leader Calls For Immediate Decriminalization of Marijuana
CANNABIS CULTURE – NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair called on the Canadian government today to immediately decriminalize possession of marijuana.
“I think we owe it to ourselves to be clear on this to make sure nobody ever again in Canada gets a criminal record for simple possession of marijuana for personal use,” Mulcair told reporters.
“The signals that keep getting sent out is things have changed, then the government tries to dial it back once they’ve sent out the signal that things have changed,” Mulcair said.
“So there is something that could have been changed immediately, which is to decriminalize. That could have been done immediately; make sure nobody gets a criminal record, because there are people being arrested now for simple possession and they’re not going to have as an excuse somebody put it in their electoral platform, so let’s get it done.”
Mulcair commented on Canadian Marijuana Czar Bill Blair’s declaration yesterday that current laws against pot must be followed.
“Quite frankly, until those laws are repealed by Parliament through the appropriate processes, they should be upheld, they should be obeyed,” Blair said at a Liberal Senate Forum meeting.
“Bill Blair today tried to say ‘no no things haven’t changed,’ but the perception of the public is that it has,” Mulcair said.
In other NDP marijuana news: John Horgan, Leader of the BC New Democrats, is sending a team to Washington and Oregon to “investigate the management of legal marijuana sales.”
“British Columbians deserve to have a say in how marijuana is legalized,” Horgan said in a press release. “They want to make sure we do this right, so that the safety and health of young people and of our communities come first. We have neighbours who started down this road some years ago, and we can learn from them.”
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