Vernon City Council has voted in support of legalizing marijuana, with only one council member opposing the motion.
Regulation and taxation of the drug came forward to council following a presentation from Dr. Dave Kennedy, a retired physician with the group Stop the Violence BC.
Dr. Kennedy says legalizing marijuana would reduce crime, increase tax revenue and relieve police. He suggests controlling pot sales like other government controlled substances.
“Where it would be dispensed from would be open to question,” suggests Dr. Kennedy. “Would it be a pharmacy, would it be a liquor control store? Something like that.”
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“The prohibition and the criminalization hasn’t worked. This is the the possibility of a new approach,” says Dr. Kennedy.
Councilor Brian Quiring was the lone council dissenter, who says he has never tried marijuana and has no plans to.
“I just can’t support legalizing it,” says Quiring. “I’ve seen what it does. I’m thankful it’s illegal. It’s just not a good thing for our community.”
“I’ve seen what it’s done in the school; I’ve seen what it’s done in the workplace, and in the family. I just can’t support it,” Quiring says.
Dr. Kennedy does not believe legalizing marijuana would lead to increased use among young people, citing studies in Portugal that have shown de-criminalization decreases the trend.
Stop the Violence BC is a coalition of academics, law enforcement, and the general public concerned about the links between cannabis prohibition and the growth of organized crime and related gang violence in the province.
Dr. Perry Kendall, B.C.’s chief provincial medical health officer, recently joined four former Vancouver mayors and four former B.C. attorneys-general in calling for an end to the criminalization of marijuana.
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