The Causes

Google images: neuroskeptic.blogspot.com

"Marijuana prohibition is unjust and illegitimate, and must be repealed. The persecution of the cannabis community has had terrible consequences. We have criminalised millions of our fellow Canadians merely because they prefer cannabis to coffee, or wine. Along the way we've spent millions of taxpayer dollars trying to stomp out drugs, succeeding only in creating a black-market economy." (bcmarijuanaparty.com/platform)

CRIMINALISATION

Prohibition is an issue because it seems to automatically criminalise everything related to the prohibited from growing and distributing, to indulging and publicising. When something is under prohibition, the government has banned it, so it is not regulated or taxed. The goal of prohibition is to reduce the amount of drugs available, and reduce demand, yet it has done the opposite.

Since marijuana has been criminalised all activities surrounding it have been pushed into the black market. Without regulation, this makes cannabis and other, more dangerous drugs, easier to obtain. In Canada there has been a 100 000% increase in marijuana users since 1937. This means in 2007 there was more  than 50 000 000 people illegally enjoying this substance. And with such high demand, growing is an increasingly popular and lucrative job. By the year 2000, British Colombia was home to 17 000 grow-ops.

As seen through history, prohibition encourages criminal activity. Prohibition strengthens crime simply because you have to be a criminal to identify with it.

Based on informantion from bcmarijuanaparty.com

Recently Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson, as well as four former mayors stepped forward calling for marijuana legalisation and regulation in BC in order to reduce gang violence. This shows it is not just "potheads" pushing for legalisation, but also people of authority, as it would be beneficial in numerous scenarios.Through an educational campaign, Stop The Violence BC, they hope to improve community safety by broadening the public understanding between cannabis prohibition and gang violence. "Stop The Violence BC is calling for cannabis to be governed by a strict regulatory framework aimed at limiting use while also starving organised crime of the profits they currently reap as a result of prohibition." (stoptheviolencebc.org) In 2009, British Colombia had 43 gang-related deaths and 276 drive-by shootings, putting public safety at great risk.

BC's stance on marijuana prohibition: The Angus Reid Poll

87% attribute gang violence to drug trafficking

81% are concerned about increasing gang violence

75% think possession should not lead to a criminal record

69% find arresting marijuana producers and sellers ineffective

12% support the current marijuana laws

CONFUSION

"The line between legal and illegal regarding marijuana is fading year by year." ("A Federal Misstep with Medical Marijuana?") Medical marijuana is legal in 13 states and Canada, yet there is barely criteria to define who requires it; it is illegal in all other instances, yet laws are not enforced at public events such as Cannabis Day; activists are being arrested who have not broken the law; and in the US, state and federal laws contradict themselves.

FUN FACT: "If a young person if caught with so much as one marijuana cigarette [in the US], they cannot get a loan from the government to go to college. If they've been convicted of murdering somebody, or raping someone, no problem. They can go right down and they'll give them the loan."

Arresting activists for nothing other than activism is illegal. As stated in Article 19 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." Mark Emmery and Tommy Chong, although convicted for different "official" reasons, are victims of this injustice.

Although medicinal marijuana is legal in 13 states, the laws concerning it are still a source of issues. According to The Tenth Amendment, "Powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." This means that even if the state law declares marijuana legal, the federal government and DEA can still treat it as illegal. In these situations, state police do not have the authority to stop the interference.