Monthly Archives: October 2012

Public Opinion Reaches Tipping Point

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Increasing Majority of British Columbians Support Ending Cannabis Prohibition – Public Opinion Reaches Tipping Point

New poll shows 75% support taxation and regulation of cannabis; Public Health Association of BC latest to join Stop the Violence BC coalition

Vancouver, B.C. [November 1, 2012] — A new Angus Reid poll released today overwhelmingly shows that British Columbians favour moving away from cannabis prohibition toward a system of regulation and taxation, and that lawmakers continue to lag far behind public opinion on revamping cannabis laws in B.C.

DOWNLOADS: Report, Polling Data

The survey, conducted between October 22 and 24, found that 75% of B.C. respondents support the taxation and regulation of cannabis over chasing and arresting cannabis producers and sellers, a jump of six percentage points from just one year ago.

“These results reveal a quite remarkable and growing dissatisfaction among British Columbians with the status quo and an eagerness for policymakers to pursue an entirely new approach to cannabis policy,” said Mario Canseco, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion. “These beliefs cut across political, social and regional lines. I can’t think of any other issue where the laws on the books are inconsistent with the wishes of three-quarters of British Columbians.”

The poll results come a year after a similar Angus Reid survey, and demonstrate increasing public opinion that cannabis prohibition in B.C. has been ineffective and caused significant social harms and public safety issues, such as increased organized crime, gang violence and illegal marijuana grow ops.

Key Angus Reid poll data:

  • Only 14% of British Columbians believe possession of a marijuana cigarette should lead to a criminal record, down from 20% one year ago
  • 75% support the taxation and regulation of cannabis over chasing and arresting cannabis producers and sellers, an increase of six percentage points from 2011
  • 74% would be comfortable living in a society where adult cannabis consumption was taxed and legally regulated under a public health framework, an increase of four percentage points from last year
  • At 62%, fewer BC residents support decriminalizing marijuana use than the proportion that support outright taxation and regulation

The poll surveyed 799 respondents in B.C. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The Angus Reid survey was released by Stop the Violence BC (STVBC), a growing coalition of academic, legal, law enforcement and health experts calling for the reform of cannabis laws to reduce the unintended harms attributable to the illegal cannabis trade, including the growth of organized crime and gang violence. A STVBC report marking the achievements during the year since the coalition’s launch, entitled BC Cannabis Policy: The time for leadership is now, was released in tandem with the polling results.

“From a scientific and public safety perspective, making cannabis illegal has clearly been an expensive and harmful failure,” said Dr. Evan Wood, founder of Stop the Violence BC and Canada Research Chair in Inner City Medicine at UBC. “With 75% of British Columbians supporting change, and the status quo contributing to increasing harms in B.C. communities, it is absolutely time for politicians to catch up with the public.”

PHABC latest to join call for ending cannabis prohibition

Along with the release of the report and polling data, the Public Health Association of BC (PHABC) became the latest prominent expert body to endorse the Stop the Violence BC campaign. PHABC is a voluntary, non-profit, non-government organization comprised of B.C.’s public health leaders whose mission is to preserve and promote the public’s health.

“From a public health perspective, we urgently need to research alternatives to our current approach to cannabis which has clearly failed to protect public health and has actually resulted in substantial individual and community harms,” said Dr. Marjorie MacDonald, President of PHABC. “Whether it be the organized crime concerns, the free and easy availability of marijuana that exists under prohibition, the life altering negative consequences of a criminal record for an otherwise law abiding young person or simply the enormous waste of public resources – all are reasons to reform this failed policy. Strict regulation, guided by proven public health principles, is clearly the logical way forward.”

Since launching a year ago, STVBC has received many high-profile endorsements from across the law enforcement, public health and political sectors, including the Health Officers Council of BC, four former mayors of Vancouver and four former B.C. attorneys general. The PHABC endorsement follows noteworthy support from eight current B.C. mayors and the passing in September of a Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) resolution calling for research into the taxation and regulation of cannabis.

A call for political leadership

In its report, STVBC highlights the discordance between government policy in B.C. and the recommendations of leading British Columbian experts and the wishes of the public. The report urges provincial politicians to demonstrate their leadership by telling British Columbians that they support researching a new approach involving a pilot study of the strict regulation and taxation of adult cannabis use under a public health framework.

“Our politicians are clearly out of step with public opinion when it comes to cannabis policy,” said Kash Heed, MLA for Vancouver-Fraserview

  • and one of the most recent politicians to publicly endorse STVBC. “We can’t continue to ignore the remarkable consensus among the public. It’s time for the political leaders at all levels of government to act on the overwhelming evidence linking cannabis prohibition to organized crime and gang violence and to support researching alternatives.”

    B.C. now risks falling behind its U.S. neighbours when it comes to cannabis prohibition. Next week, three states will vote on ballot measures to approve the taxation and regulation of adult marijuana use, including Washington State, where voters will vote on Initiative 502. STVBC coalition members argued this week in a Seattle Times op-ed that if Initiative 502 is passed, it could help cripple B.C.’s gangs.

    STVBC is encouraging policymakers at all levels of government to contact them with any questions about how B.C. could support a new approach to cannabis policy.

  • For polling summary, including full results from 2011 and 2012, please click here.
  • For a copy of the STVBC year in review report, entitled BC Cannabis Policy: The time for leadership is now, please click here.

    • – 30 –

    About Stop the Violence BC

    Stop the Violence BC is a coalition of law enforcement officials, legal experts, public health officials and academic experts from the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, University of Victoria and the University of Northern BC. Coalition members have come together to engage all British Columbians in a discussion aimed at developing and implementing cannabis-related policies that improve public health while reducing social harms, including violent crime. For a listing of coalition members and to learn more about the coalition, please visit www.stoptheviolencebc.org/about-us.

    About Angus Reid Public Opinion

    Angus Reid Public Opinion is the Public Affairs practice of Vision Critical headed by Dr. Angus Reid: an industry visionary who has spent more than four decades asking questions to figure out what people feel, how they think and who they will vote for.

    Media: to speak to a member of the Stop the Violence BC coalition, please contact:

    Kevin Hollett
    604 682 2344 ext 66536
    [email protected]

    Sunny McKechnie
    250 816 7610
    [email protected]

    The Year in Review: The time for leadership is now

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    DOWNLOADS: Report, Polling Data, News Release

    Building momentum

    A remarkable and growing number of British Columbians are joining the call for the taxation and strict regulation of cannabis for adult use to better protect community health and safety while also reducing related organized crime activity and other community harms, such as the proliferation of illegal grow operations.

    In October 2011, the Stop the Violence BC coalition – comprising researchers from B.C.’s four leading universities and some of the province’s foremost experts in law enforcement, medicine, public health, and the law – released its first report, “Breaking the Silence.” The report launched a public discussion regarding the failure of cannabis prohibition to suppress B.C.’s massive cannabis market and the role that existing cannabis policies play in threatening community health and safety in B.C. Since then, Stop the Violence BC has been advocating for a strictly regulated cannabis market for adult use under a public health model as a strategy to wage economic war on organized crime and to better control the province’s high rates of cannabis use.

    It has been one year since Stop the Violence BC’s launch, but despite the groundswell of support for the taxation and regulation of cannabis, B.C.’s provincial leaders have largely refused to take action.

    Today, we call on our provincial leaders to follow the example of the Union of B.C. Municipalities and tell British Columbians that they support researching a new approach to cannabis control – one that includes an impact assessment of the strict regulation and taxation of adult cannabis use under a public health framework.

    Nelson City Council passes resolution supporting UBCM’s call to decriminalize marijuana and study regulation and taxation

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    October 9, 2012 Nelson City Council debated and passed a resolution supporting the motion passed in September at the Union of BC Municipalities.  Moved by city Councillor Donna Macdonald, this was the second time Nelson council was debating a cannabis regulation and taxation motion. In early June, Nelson council entered into a heated debate on the issue and deferred the conversation until after UBCM.

    Here is the full text of the resolution:

    Decriminalization of Marijuana

    WHEREAS costly cannabis prohibition efforts have failed to effectively limit the availability of cannabis, especially to our youth, and insteed has created a large financial opportunity for organized crime, fueling an increasing violent illegal market ; and

    WHEREAS academic, law enforcement and health experts, including the Health Officers Council of BC, believe that a strictly regulated framework for cannabis control has the potential to reduce rates of cannabis use. raise substantial tax revenue for education and rehabilitation, undermine organized crime. and reduce law enforcement time and expenditures,

    THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
    That Nelson City Council endorse UBCM resolution A5 (2012 Convention), which calls for the decriminalization of marijuana and for research on the regulation and taxation of marijuana, base on a public health approach, and

    That Council’s support for this approach be communicated to the Provincial and Federal Ministers of Health and Justice, and to Stop the Violence BC.

    MLA Joan McIntyre joins Kash Heed, calls for regulation and taxation

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    – This is not an official Stop the Violence BC Press Release; reprinted with the permission of MLA Joan McIntyre –

    BC LIBERAL GOVERNMENT CAUCUS
    STATEMENT

    For immediate release
    October 18, 2012

    VICTORIA – Today, West Vancouver-Sea to Sky MLA Joan McIntyre released the following statement in support of Vancouver-Fraserview MLA Kash Heed’s call for the legalization and regulation of marijuana.

    “I join my colleague MLA Kash Heed in support of the legalization of marijuana. Like MLA Heed, I believe that ending the prohibition of marijuana will make our communities safer by taking the industry out of the hands of organized crime. Kash Heed and other experts, such as Dr. Julio Montaner and Dr. Evan Wood of the organization, Stop the Violence BC, believe that marijuana prohibition increases gang violence in our province – violence which does not take place in a silo, but rather on the streets of our communities, putting B.C. families at risk.

    “Prohibition has required a substantial investment in our police services, and places a heavy financial burden on the taxpayer. I believe, as my colleague Kash Heed does, that it draws police resources and capacity away from other, more pragmatic areas which would make our communities safer.

    “In spite of the dedicated efforts of our police in B.C., a war on drugs only serves to drive organized crime further underground; it fails to end the cycle of violence and drug use, but succeeds in draining our coffers.

    “I believe we need a paradigm shift from prohibition to one of regulation and taxation, making B.C. safer for us all.”

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    Media contact: Mark Knudsen, BC Government Caucus Communications, (250) 356-1539

    The Marijuana Wars: A Police Officer Speaks Out

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    Credits: Director/Producer: Pete McCormack; Director of Photography: Mike Hawley; Music: Schaun Tozer; Sound: Ian Jones; Production Assistant and
    Second Camera: Kieran McCormack; Big Special Thanks: Tara and Eric—Two Story Productions, Tavis Dunn, Stephen Green and Jonny Ross

    Kash Heed, MLA and long-time member of law enforcement, is the first sitting provincial politician to join the Stop the Violence BC coalition. Help spread the word by sharing a link to this page: www.stoptheviolencebc.org/kash_heed.

     

    About the Stop the Violence BC Coalition

    The STVBC coalition includes law enforcement officials, legal experts, medical and public health officials and academic experts concerned about the links between cannabis prohibition in BC and the growth of organized crime and related violence in the province. They have come together to engage all British Columbians in a discussion aimed at developing and implementing marijuana-related policies that improve public health while reducing social harms, including violent crime.

    What we do

    Together, our members issue reports, do presentations, and produce a variety of other educational materials to help fuel a sustained, evidence-based public discourse. You can learn more about the work of the coalition here or by joining us on email, Facebook, or Twitter.

     

    Kash Heed calls for the regulation and taxation of marijuana

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    BC MLA speaks out against marijuana prohibition in short film, joins Stop the Violence BC

    CLICK HERE FOR THE FILM

    Vancouver, BC [October 18, 2012] — Kash Heed, a long-time law enforcement official and MLA, is calling for the legalization and taxation of cannabis to better protect communities and reduce related organized crime activity resulting from the illegal marijuana trade.

    In a video and written statement released today, Kash Heed shared his experiences about the devastating consequences of cannabis prohibition, based on his 31 years in law enforcement as a beat cop, a police chief, and head of both the Vancouver Police Department Drug Unit and Indo-Canadian Gang Violence Task Force.

    “In the early 1990s, I began to fully recognize the futility and the social, economic and public health costs of continuing marijuana prohibition,” wrote Heed in the statement. “And I came to one inescapable conclusion—cannabis prohibition fuels gang violence in B.C. In fact, costly law enforcement efforts have only served to drive the marijuana industry deeper into the hands of violent organized crime groups.”

    In his statement, Heed announced that he is joining Stop the Violence BC (STVBC), a coalition of academic, legal, law enforcement and health experts, and its campaign to reform cannabis laws to reduce the harms associated with the illegal cannabis trade, including gang violence. He joins a growing list of endorsements that includes a coalition of B.C. mayors, the Health Officers Council of B.C., four former mayors of Vancouver and former B.C. attorneys general. His statement follows the passing last month of a Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) resolution calling for the decriminalization of cannabis.

    “It shows real political courage that Kash Heed, as a sitting member of a provincial legislature, has decided to speak out against these failed laws,” said Geoff Plant, who served as B.C. attorney general from 2001 to 2005. “It’s time for the rest of our political leaders to follow his lead and act on the overwhelming evidence linking marijuana prohibition to organized crime and gang violence.”

    Kash Heed is the MLA for Vancouver-Fraserview. He is urging his current and former colleagues to improve community health and safety by overturning marijuana prohibition.

    “I plan to use my remaining time in office to reach out to our provincial leaders and ensure that replacing cannabis prohibition with a more effective public health and safety strategy becomes a part of the public debate in the next provincial election,” said Heed. “Despite the effort to pass the buck to the federal government, this is a provincial issue—organized crime has been fuelled by B.C.’s failed marijuana policies, leading to gang violence, destructive grow-ops and easy access to marijuana for youth in each and every one of our communities.”

    The video was produced and directed by Pete McCormack, an award winning filmmaker based in Vancouver.

    “Evidence against marijuana prohibition is staggering: police fight impossible odds and the current approach is hypocritical, a tax-paying sinkhole that causes unintentional yet very real collateral damage and violence. And for what?” said McCormack. “To get the chance to interview Kash Heed, who has been right there in it, was inspiring to me as a filmmaker. If this video can influence other politicians’ and inspire contemporary drug policies, that would be amazing.”

    • Media can download the Kash Heed video here.
    • Watch the video here.
    • Read the full Kash Heed statement here.

    – 30 –

    About Stop the Violence BC

    Stop the Violence BC is a coalition of law enforcement officials, legal experts, public health officials and academic experts from the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, University of Victoria and the University of Northern BC. Coalition members have come together to engage all British Columbians in a discussion aimed at developing and implementing marijuana-related policies that improve public health while reducing social harms, including violent crime. For a full listing of coalition members and to learn more about the coalition, please click here.

    For more information about Stop the Violence BC or to interview a coalition member, please contact:

    Kevin Hollett
    604 682 2344 ext 66536
    [email protected]

    Written statement

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    I have dedicated over 31 years of my life as a cop, finishing my police career as a chief. Most of that time was spent on Vancouver’s streets on beats related to drugs and gangs.

    Fighting the war on cannabis and the violent gangs that feed off the conflict took up a vast amount of my time. The gangs and gangsters I pursued are too numerous to mention, but include household names such as the UN gang, the Hells Angels, Independent Soldiers, and Bindy Johal. These and other notorious B.C. gangsters profited by selling and exporting marijuana, while using the massive profits to import cocaine and guns into our province.

    Our efforts to curtail gang wars over the cannabis industry were time-consuming, dangerous and expensive, up to and above $1 million per murder investigation. I led teams that had record-breaking arrests while removing enormous amounts of drugs from our streets. However, the successes that we enjoyed over the past three decades proved short-lived and ultimately fruitless.

    In the early 1990s, I began to fully recognize the futility and the social, economic and public health costs of continuing marijuana prohibition.

    And I came to one inescapable conclusion – cannabis prohibition fuels gang violence in B.C. All of the vaunted and much publicized policing efforts to control gang violence and the marijuana industry – the Uniformed Gang Task Force, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, the Marijuana Enforcement Teams, the hiring of hundreds more police offices across BC, civil forfeiture laws and tougher sentencing – have had little if any impact on the huge, highly profitable sector. In fact, costly law enforcement efforts have only served to drive the marijuana industry deeper into the hands of violent organized crime groups.

    While working as the commanding officer of the Drug Unit and working towards a Masters degree in Criminology, I researched why massive investments in law enforcement did not reduce marijuana use or related crime. The reason? Money. The marijuana industry in B.C. is estimated to be worth up to $7 billion annually. The profits generated are enormous and, for some, worth killing for. When gang members are convicted and jailed, new and violent gang members are only too eager to use intimidation, guns and murder to take their place.

    Many of my colleagues in policing and the criminal justice system understood that we were fighting a losing battle, and privately expressed their support to overturn marijuana prohibition and implement a strictly regulated system of marijuana sales to adults. At the same time, I took the concerns I was hearing privately and aired them publicly. In November 2001, I appeared before a Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs. My message to the Upper House was three-pronged: Pot prohibition doesn’t work. It leads to violence, massive costs to the taxpayer, and no reductions in supply or use. And alternatives, including regulation, should be considered.

    When I suggested that marijuana prohibition has failed and contributes to organized crime, I took significant heat from others in the law enforcement community. Police chiefs coalesced around the unworkable status quo. Privately, within my department, I received more support. Many cops had had enough of the illicit marijuana industry’s ongoing succession of violence and death, with no end in sight. However, when your job, your pension, and your family’s livelihood are at stake, I understand the average cop’s hesitancy to step out of line and publicly question their superiors.

    Today, I must speak for the police officers who cannot.

    The endless cycle of gang violence must stop. I have joined Stop the Violence BC, a coalition of law enforcement officials, legal experts, medical and public health officials, and academic experts concerned about the links between cannabis prohibition in B.C. and the growth of organized crime and related violence in the province.

    STVBC has enlisted current and former B.C. mayors, police officers, attorneys general, health officers and others to help overturn cannabis prohibition and implement a strictly regulated market for the adult consumption of cannabis. As with the end of alcohol prohibition in the 1930s, marijuana regulation today will remove the profits that drive gang violence and create safer, healthier communities.

    Today, under cannabis prohibition, youth have easier access to marijuana than alcohol or tobacco. As a law enforcement leader and former Minister of Public Safety who has spent more than 33 years creating and enforcing laws, I know that a strictly regulated marijuana market for adult cannabis use would better protect youth through the use of regulatory tools that have proven so effective in reducing tobacco use.

    The taxes resulting from a regulated cannabis market could support our most important public programs, including health and education. Rather than enforcing unworkable laws that breed violence, police would be free to focus on laws that actually protect citizens and improve public safety.
    Unfortunately, despite our best efforts and majority support from British Columbians to reform existing cannabis laws, prohibition remains. It appears nothing has changed since my days on the street. In fact, recent headlines suggest events are worse. Randy Naicker, gang member, shot dead. A Red Scorpion leader gunned down. A full-patch member of the Hells Angels wounded in a public attack. Jonathan Bacon, killed outside a waterfront hotel in Kelowna. Innocent bystanders in the wrong place at the wrong time. Retaliation.

    For now, until we enact sensible cannabis laws, the beat goes on…

    Kash Heed is a long-time law enforcement official, an Adjunct Professor at SFU, and more recently, the MLA for Vancouver-Fraserview. He is encouraging his current and former colleagues, friends, and associates to improve community health and safety by overturning marijuana prohibition. His views are his alone, and do not reflect those of the BC Liberal Party.