The British Columbia Marijuana Party (

abbreviated An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

BCMP) was a minor

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in the Canadian province of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

that advocated the legalisation of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

. The BCMP was formed following the 2000 federal election.

Marc Emery Marc Scott Emery (born February 13, 1958) is a Canadian cannabis rights activist, entrepreneur and politician. Often described as the "Prince of Pot", Emery has been a notable advocate of international cannabis policy reform, and has been active ...

, the founder and current president of the party, formed the party the day after the 2000 vote. The BCMP made provincial history during the 2001 provincial election that came six months later, by being the only party to ever field candidates in all of the province's ridings during their first election campaign. Brian Taylor served as the party's first leader during the 2001 provincial election. Taylor had been a prominent cannabis activist and was the former

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Grand Forks Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

. The Marijuana Party was excluded from the televised leaders' debate, even though they were running more candidates than either the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

or the Unity Party, both of which were included. BC Marijuana Party members protested during the televised debate. In 2001, the party won 51,206 votes, 3.22% of the popular vote. Teresa Taylor, daughter of leader Brian Taylor, captured the party's highest popular vote total with 1,136 and polled 5.6% in the conservative

Okanagan-Westside Okanagan-Westside was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada from 2001 to 2009. It included the small cities of Westbank, Westside, Peachland, and Summerland, and extended from the city limit of ...

district. After the election, Dana Larsen became leader, followed by

when Larsen switched to the New Democratic Party in 2003. Emery also remains as president and chief organizer, despite having faced extradition to the United States for selling marijuana seeds from Canada by mail order. In the 2005 election, the party fielded 44 candidates, who won a total of 11,519 votes, or 0.64% of the province-wide total. Before the 2009 election the party announced it would endorse

candidates in every riding across the province, although it would run two candidates to continue its party status, those candidates would also openly endorse the Green candidate in that particular constituency. The party ran 2 candidates in the 2013 election and no candidates in the 2017 election. The party de-registered with Elections BC effective October 2019.

References

External links

BC Marijuana Party

POT-TV - A website owned by Marc Emery which promotes marijuana culture and legalization

Cannabis Culture Magazine, edited and published by Marc Emery
{{Cannabis in Canada

Marijuana Party Cannabis political parties are generally single-issue parties that exist to oppose the laws against cannabis. Australia In the 1970s, J.J. McRoach ran for parliament as candidate for the Australian Marijuana Party. He had an advertising camp ...

Cannabis political parties of Canada Political parties established in 2000

2000 in cannabis

See also

References

External links