ON the same day the federal government announced it will bring in greater restrictions for medicinal marijuana users, advocates of less-restrictive pot laws also wrote their own message large, with a billboard in West Vancouver.
For the rest of this week, drivers heading off the Lions Gate Bridge into North Vancouver will go past a billboard urging them to Join the Sensible BC Marijuana Referendum Campaign.
The pro-pot lobby group SensibleBC is hoping the North Shore billboard will be the first among several in the Lower Mainland to get the word out in advance of a referendum campaign to decriminalize pot in the province.
"It's an effective way to reach a lot of people," said Dana Larsen, spokesman for the group.
Rather than take on the federal Conservative government, Larsen said his group has decided to target the province, through B.C.'s referendum legislation, to "effectively decriminalize" pot.
He said in the United States where pot laws have become more liberal - Colorado, California and Washington State - it's almost always been through a state referendum.
The SensibleBC group wants to force the province to change the Police Act so enforcing marijuana laws isn't a priority.
Larsen said that's not as outlandish as it seems.
Since the introduction of administrative penalties for drunk drivers in B.C., the majority of those stopped aren't criminally charged anymore, he said. "They could do the same thing with pot."
He added in some parts of the province, like the City of Vancouver, police already turn a blind eye to marijuana.
But that's not the case everywhere. "It's totally arbitrary," said Larsen. "It depends on what cop you get and how that cop's feeling about marijuana that day."
In order to get the province to even consider a vote, however, the group faces a significant challenge. The campaign must sign up 10 per cent of registered voters in each of B.C.'s 85 electoral districts in a 90-day period, between September and December. So far the only group to pull that off has been the campaign to rescind the HST.
Larsen said he's talked to some of the HST campaigners and has financial backing from multi-million-dollar B.C. lottery winner - and decriminalization advocate - Bob Erb. He's hoping the billboard will drum up more volunteers for the campaign.
Michael Charrois, who previously ran for the NDP in North Vancouver, is among those getting ready to collect signatures on the North Shore.
"I think in a time of austerity, prohibition is a tremendous waste of money," said Charrois.
"B.C. should be at least as progressive as our American neighbours."
Charrois said he's been out on the North Shore recently trying to raise the profile of the campaign, which he concedes faces an "onerous" challenge in collecting enough signatures to pass.
"We've got to get people off the couch and to put the Doritos down," he said.
Larsen, who also runs a medicinal marijuana dispensary in Vancouver, also criticized a federal government announcement Monday that those licensed to use medicinal marijuana will not be allowed to grow their own plants starting in 2014 but will have to order it by mail.
Larsen said the new rules won't stop people from growing pot - simply push them underground.
Const. Jeff Palmer, spokesman for the West Vancouver Police Department, said this week his officers aren't concerned about the billboard advocating a pot referendum. "It's advocating something that's entirely lawful to do," he said.
It the past eight years, the West Vancouver Police Department has investigated 32 marijuana grow-ops, said Palmer.
Palmer said there have been cases where growers have had Health Canada licences to grow medicinal marijuana but "are growing well in excess of what's permitted."
