| EndProhibition.ca |
Candidates for leadership of Canada’s NDP were unanimous this week in their support for ending the Drug War, according to a survey released by Vancouver-based End Prohibition.
The survey, released on the heels of a new federal Liberal Party policy calling for marijuana legalization — and new polling showing two-thirds of Canadians support legalization/decriminalization — demonstrates the new political consensus in Canada: The Drug War has failed, and it’s time to regulate cannabis.
“What we see here is a major shift in Canadian politics, where there is wide acknowledgement that the drug war has failed, and that a non-criminal, regulatory approach has unanimous support among the opposition parties,” said Dana Larsen, executive director of End Prohibition. “The question is not should we end the war on marijuana, but rather when we do, what should regulation look like?”
“Meanwhile Stephen Harper is waging a war on marijuana that 88 percent of his own base doesn’t support,” Larsen said of Canada’s prime minister. “It’s well past time for an adult discussion on how we can better deal with this substance.”
| Dana Larsen |
| Dana Larsen, End Prohibition: “Simply put, Canadians do not want to increase penalties for marijuana, they do not want to continue to waste money jailing people for a handful of marijuana plants for personal use, and they want to see alternatives to this costly and unjustified war Mr. Harper is waging on marijuana and harm reduction” |
The End Prohibition survey also covered topics such as supervised injection site facilities for hard-drug users and the Conservative omnibus crime bill. There is broad consensus among the NDP leadership candidates in support of expanding safe injection sites and other harm reduction facilities into major urban centers, and against the provisions of the Conservative omnibus crime bill.
That bill is opposed by all opposition parties, the majority of Canadians, and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, as well as the vast majority of academic researchers, and, according to End Prohibition, “has catalyzed support against the Conservative crime ideology.”
End Prohibition said it was “particularly encouraged” by the replies from Niki Ashton, Romeo Saganash and Peggy Nash, all of whom said they supported moving past simple decriminalization to a legally taxed and regulated model for cannabis access.
“Simply put, Canadians do not want to increase penalties for marijuana, they do not want to continue to waste money jailing people for a handful of marijuana plants for personal use, and they want to see alternatives to this costly and unjustified war Mr. Harper is waging on marijuana and harm reduction,” Larsen said.
“We have seen Harper’s ideology play out in the United States over the past 30 years, and it’s been a complete and total failure,” Larsen said. “It has not curbed drug use, it has not made streets any safer, and it has cost hundreds of billions of dollars.
“That is the road Stephen Harper is taking our country down,” Larsen said. “I am encouraged that the NDP leadership candidates are taking such a strong stand against Stephen Harper, and standing up for evidence-based policy on crime.”
For more information and commentary on the End Prohibition survey, click here.
