Voters in Washington State will be heading to the polls next week to vote on an initiative that could legalize the sale of marijuana—a move that many are pushing for in British Columbia.

If the initiative goes through, Washington State will become the first American jurisdiction to allow farmers to grow marijuana that can then be legally sold to adults 21 years and older. The drug will then be taxed and regulated by the government in an attempt to the curb sales in the black market.

Prominent B.C leaders such as Liberal MLA Kash Heed and former Attorney General Geoff Plant are just some of the high-profile British Columbians who are pushing for a similar initiative in B.C. Both have endorsed the Stop the Violence Campaign, and have maintained that the criminalization of pot fuels gang violence.

The Union of B.C. Municipalities also passed a resolution last month, calling for the decriminalization of cannabis.

“For a long time, one of the arguments against policy reform in Canada was that Canadians could never try and get ahead of the Americans on this issue without risking the wrath of U.S. law enforcement,” said Plant at the B.C. Liberals’ annual convention in Whistler on Saturday. “It looks like the Americans are step-by-step getting ahead of Canadians on this issue. If there’s a successful vote on that Washington initiative, that’s another step forward. Sooner or later we’re going to be playing catch-up here.”

Justice Minister and Attorney General Shirley Bond says regardless of the B.C. government’s position on the decriminalization of pot, any changes to marijuana laws can only be made by the federal government.

“The fact of the matter is that if there were to be a change to the Criminal Code to deal with this issue, it needs to be done by the federal government,” she said.

Both Bond and Plant agree that a yes vote in Washington could impact the market for B.C. bud, and thus, public safety.

“If legalization succeeds in Washington, that’s going to remove some of the market for B.C. marijuana south of the border, but B.C. marijuana, sadly, makes it way throughout the United States, so it’s not exactly going to stop the gang wars up here in their tracks,” said Plant.

However, only the federal government has jurisdiction over such matters, and Ottawa has been clear that it has no interest in ending prohibition.

With files from CTV British Columbia’s Scott Roberts