Pot watchers focus on U.S. election vote
Washington, Oregon and Colorado considering legalization
While Barack Obama and Mitt Romney make most of the U.S. headlines, a referendum in Washington state may have a more profound effect on British Columbians.
The multibillion-dollar B.C. bud industry is watching carefully as Washington, Oregon and Colorado vote on whether to legalize marijuana.
Pot watchers believe Washington stands the best chance of legalizing the drug, which would immediately affect B.C.’s growers and exporters as well as the ongoing campaign to decriminalize marijuana in B.C.
“It’s likely there’s going to be pretty significant changes,” SFU criminology professor Neil Boyd said if Washingtonians legalize pot. “There is a big gap between the science and the marijuana laws.
“For most people in most cases, it’s much less problematic than alcohol, tobacco, or many prescription drugs.
“It’s probably a more useful drug than many of the drugs that stores are selling.”
Jodie Emery, a pot activist along with her husband Marc, said she believes the three states are now leading Canada, once thought of as a leader in pot reform.
“People always said we couldn’t legalize pot in Canada without the U.S. doing it, too,” she said. “Now, the U.S. is leading the way.”
Emery said the sickening cycle of drug-related violence is turning the public tide.
“It’s not so much a pro-pot message anymore — it’s an anti-prohibition message,” she said. “Prohibition is making gangsters rich. The momentum is really growing.”
Dana Larsen hopes a win in Washington will help his current campaign to put pot decriminalization to a B.C.-wide vote in September 2014.
“I think it’ll have a huge effect if Washington does,” said Larsen, whose “Sensible B.C.” campaign will be heading out into the street next September, hoping to have the same effect the anti-HST forces did in forcing a public vote.
“That will have a big impact in the United States, Canada and British Columbia.”
Survey results released last week show that three out of four British Columbians now support the decriminalization of marijuana.
The influential “Stop the Violence B.C.” lobby group has recruited politicians of all stripes to advocate for marijuana reform, focusing in on the needless loss of life due to the ongoing war for control of the superlucrative B.C. drug trade.
Estimates of the value of B.C.’s marijuana crop range from $6 million to $8 billion — much of it destined for export south of the border.
In B.C., Washington and Oregon, there is a divide of sorts.
Urban voters tend to support decriminalization/legalization, while marijuana reform tends to be a tougher sell in more conservative rural areas.
The U.S. election is set for Tuesday.
Also in Washington state, voters will decide whether the state will join a growing list of jurisdictions where gay marriage is legal.
Vancouver initially became a major destination for gay couples to marry when it legalized same-sex marriage, but its importance and popularity as a gay-marriage destination has declined as legalization has spread to many other prominent cities and regions.