Marijuana Party
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Marijuana Parties are formal political parties set up specifically to legalize cannabis. They exist in Canada (as the Marijuana Party of Canada on the federal level, and as the Bloc pot of Quebec and the British Columbia Marijuana Party on the provincial level), Australia, New Zealand, USA, and Israel at present. They have a generally libertarian character, with few other common positions. Some consider a Marijuana Party to be a sort of single-issue green party.
The first Marijuana Party was the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party in New Zealand. They ran for the first time in 1996. They have never had any Members of Parliament, but have averaged around 1% of the popular vote - one fifth of what is necessary to gain MPs under New Zealand's proportional representation system. A former member, Nandor Tanczos, is now an MP as part of the New Zealand Green Party (he is also New Zealand's first ever Rastafarian Member of Parliament).
In 1998, the Quebecois Bloc pot ran in their first election campaign. In February 2000, this group launched the Marijuana Party of Canada and ran in the federal election with 73 candidates.
Israeli Ale Yarok party participated in 2003 elections in Israel and was very close to pass to the parliament. However, they were unsuccessful in legalising marijuana.
External links
- Marijuana Party of Canada (http://www.marijuanaparty.ca/)
- Bloc Pot (http://www.blocpot.qc.ca/en_index.html)
- US Marijuana Party (http://www.usmjparty.com/)
- HEMP Party of Australia (http://www.hempembassy.net/hempe/hp2.html)
- Nimbin HEMP Embassy (http://www.hempembassy.net/)