VANCOUVER

Sensible BC dismisses pot petitioner after cancer claims

CTV British Columbia Published Tuesday, September 17, 2013 9:52PM PDT Last Updated Tuesday, September 17, 2013 9:52PM PDT

Towns across the province can expect to see Sensible BC volunteers roll up in the “Cannabus" as they try to get enough signatures to hold a referendum on the province's pot possession laws. (CTV)

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A B.C. pot advocacy group is stamping out controversy after one of its canvassers claimed marijuana cures cancer at a local Terry Fox charity run on the weekend.

Sensible BC campaigner Chris Skidmore took part in Sunday’s Port Coquitlam run and shouted to runners there was already a cure for cancer – pot.

“I ran the whole race screaming that marijuana cures cancer, because it does,” Skidmore told CTV News.

Dana Larsen, the founder of Sensible BC, confirmed on Twitter Tuesday that Skidmore has since been dismissed from the campaign.

“We’re removed that fellow from being a local organizer. Sorry for any disruption of your event,” he wrote.

Elections BC rules prohibit making false claims about the substance of an official petition, but doesn't restrict any other speech.

When reached about the controversy Monday, Larsen noted that marijuana derivatives had been shown in studies to kill cancer cells, but he believed that describing marijuana as a "cure" goes too far.

Sensible BC is trying to sign up enough people to force a referendum to get the provincial government to tell law enforcement not to ticket or charge anyone for marijuana possession.