Kash Heed calls for legalization of marijuana

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – He’s been West Vancouver’s chief of police, the head of the Vancouver Police Department’s drug unit and BC’s Solicitor General; now, Kash Heed can add “advocate for the legalization of marijuana” to his resume.

“Marijuana prohibition has been a failure and continues to be a failure here in British Columbia,” says Heed. “It has actually fuelled the gang violence that [we’ve been] experiencing here in British Columbia for many years. It is directly related to marijuana prohibition by the simple fact that there is a lot of easy money to be made by gangsters involved in the marijuana trade.”

When Premier Christy Clark was asked whether she supports decriminalizing pot earlier this year, she said it was up to the federal government to decide.

“That’s a cop out,” counters Heed. “That’s passing the buck to have someone else address a concern that is here in British Columbia.”

Heed has spoken out in favour of decriminalization in the past, but now he joining a pro-legalization group called Stop the Violence BC.

Today, STVBC released the following video of Heed explaining his position:

(read more below)

Former BC Attorneys General Colin Gabelmann, Ujjal Dosanjh, Graeme Bowbrick, and Geoff Plant are also members of the group.

“It shows real political courage that Kash Heed, as a sitting member of a provincial legislature, has decided to speak out against these failed laws,” says Plant in a release. “It’s time for the rest of our political leaders to follow his lead and act on the overwhelming evidence linking marijuana prohibition to organized crime and gang violence.”

Heed is no longer in Cabinet and will not be seeking re-election for the BC Liberals.

“It was easy for me to make this public, knowing that I have a bit of time left in office where I can reach out to provincial leaders,” he tells us. “It’s a time for BC politicians — Adrian Dix, Christy Clark and John Cummins — to demonstrate leadership in addressing these long-standing public safety issues by supporting evidence-based alternatives.”

He says it would have been “difficult to raise the issue” when he was serving as Solicitor General.

Last month, delegates at the Union of BC Municipalities convention passed a resolution calling for marijuana to be decriminalized.

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