B.C. Marijuana Party may fold and throw its support to the Greens

The publisher of Cannabis Culture magazine and leader of the B.C. Marijuana Party, Marc Emery, says that he may fold the party after running in the B.C. provincial election and put his energies into getting the B.C. Green Party elected from now on. According to a story in The Tyee:

The Marijuana Party has been active in B.C. politics since May 2001 when the party ran a full slate of candidates during the contest that elected Premier Gordon Campbell by a landslide.

The B.C. Green Party has the same stance on substance regulation as his party, Emery explained, and the Green Party is a better vehicle to make change happen.

“They have that one key element of their platform that I have a vested interest in making sure becomes as popular as possible,” Emery said.

Jody Emery, the Cannabis Culture editor (and Emery's wife) is already running as a Green Party candidate for the riding of Vancouver Fraserview while he is running in Vancouver Burrard under the Marijuana Party banner. Both ran, unsuccessfully, as Marijuana Party candidates in last October's by-elections in the same ridings.

The leader of the B.C. Green Party welcomed the support from Emery.

“For us to get elected, we need to take support from all other parties and all parts of the political spectrum and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Jane Sterk said.

“If two per cent of the voting public want to put their votes towards the green party that would assist us.”

She indicated that the policy on drug reform was developed by the Green Party and was not influenced by the Marijuana Party’s policy.

“We have long advocated for an end to the war on drugs and we think prohibition is the wrong way to go,” Sterk said.

Emery said he feels the Marijuana party has served its purpose.