By Jennifer Colbourne (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: September 18, 2013
A group known as Sensible BC has been campaigning for a referendum on marijuana, hoping to decriminalize then legalize the substance.
In order to have a referendum in BC, however, they first need to collect 10 per cent of voter signatures for each riding – a total of 400,000 signatures.
With a three-month time limit, Sensible BC is driving a “CannaBus” around to various locations as a way to promote its cause, collecting signatures and spreading awareness.
On Saturday 21, the CannaBus planned to stop in Abbotsford on Essendene Avenue, but its stay was cut unexpectedly short by the city and police.
Dana Larsen, the campaign director, explained the situation.
“Well, we had a weird thing. I mean, the people here [at Woolaroo Yarns] don’t like us being in front of them, and because there’s a two-hour parking limit and we’re just gone past the two hours,” he said, after which the tow truck arrived.
Further complicating things, Larsen added, the police found “an issue with our driver and his license that he’s dealing with … right now.”
Larsen was not particularly upset, however.
“It’s all worked out fine. We were planning on leaving here like around 12 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. anyways, because that’s what the plan was,” he said, adding that the owner, “does not like us being in front of her place and it’s causing us some problems … It’s been a great time here. We’ve got quite a few signatures.”
Despite the negative reaction of the store owner, Dana Larsen said he was consistently impressed by the strong support of smaller communities such as Abbotsford. As far as he is concerned, conflict is the nature of change.
“If people aren’t mad at you, you’re doing something wrong. You’re going to piss people off when you’re trying to make change; that’s how it works, right?” he said.
