Marijuana Party (Canada)
The Marijuana Party () is a Canadian federal political party, whose agenda focuses on issues related to cannabis in Canada. Apart from this one issue, the party has no other official policies, meaning party candidates are free to express any views on all other political issues. Passage of the Cannabis Act in June 2018 legalized cannabis on 17 October 2018. However, the party is critical of some of the laws relating to cannabis since legalization and wants to see them changed or reformed. It also seeks to represent and advocate for the rights of cannabis consumers, growers, and small cannabis based businesses. Candidates appear on election ballots under the short form "Radical Marijuana" and their status is similar to that of independent candidates. Although governed by the Canada Elections Act, the Marijuana Party is a "decentralized" party, without by-laws, charter or constitution that govern its operations. Its Electoral District Associations are autonomous units of the party as a whole. History The party was founded by Marc-Boris St-Maurice in February 2000. In the November 2000 federal election, the party nominated candidates in 73 ridings in seven provinces and won 66,419 votes (0.52% of national popular vote). In January and May 2004, changes were made to Canada's electoral laws which significantly reduced the fundraising abilities of the Marijuana Party; specifically, the elections law was amended so that most of the Marijuana Party's political contribution tax credit scheme was criminalized. The result of those changes was a very significant drop in the party's funding by 95%. As of 2004, parties with more than two per cent of the national vote were eligible to receive $2 per year per individual vote, as well as have the majority of their election expenses refunded. Small parties unable to secure two per cent of the vote do not qualify for any subsidy from votes or for election expenses. In the June 2004 federal election, the party nominated 71 candidates, but won only 33,590 votes (0.25% of the national popular vote). On February 28, 2005, founder St-Maurice announced his intention to join the Liberal Party in order to work for liberalized marijuana laws from within the governing party. Many former Marijuana Party members have joined one of the mainstream political parties (NDP, Liberal, Conservative, or Green) in order to push for reform from within. In 2005, Elections Canada recognized Blair T. Longley as the new party leader following St-Maurice's resignation. In the January 2006 federal election, the party ran candidates in 23 ridings and received 9,275 votes (0.06% of the national popular vote). In the Nunavut riding, however, the party's candidate won 7.88% of all ballots cast and finished in fourth place, ahead of the Greens. Criticisms of Canada's legalisation (2018–present) In June 2018, the party's leader, Blair Longley, addressed concerns about Canada's cannabis legalisation plans, referring to it as ‘prohibition 2.0’. Referring to Canada’s legalisation plans he said “There’s this slight bit of progress, but when you look at the bigger picture, it’s nothing close to what