Municipal politicians in Vernon, B.C. are adding their voices to those of a growing number of public officials calling for decriminalization of marijuana.
With just one dissenting vote, city council has decided to advocate for legalization so that marijuana can be regulated and taxed.
"There would be more control and less criminality if we could just control it the same way we do alcohol," city councillor Mary-Jo O'Keefe told CTV News.
She says that the brazen daytime Kelowna shooting that killed notorious gangster Jonathan Bacon and injured five others last year was just one example of what happens when the lucrative drug business is left in the hands of criminals.
"The fact that somebody could do a drive-by shooting at the Grand hotel right here in our own backyard was shocking and it's clearly drug-related," O'Keefe said.
The Okanagan city is just the latest municipality to urge higher levels of government to change Canada's drug laws. Pro-legalization group Stop the Violence BC believes that even more local governments will follow suit.
"We hope and anticipate that around the province we're going to see city councils coming forward. On the island, Victoria and Metchosin have come forward. In the Interior, we've seen Vernon come forward as well as Lake Country. We anticipate it may come down like a house of cards," the group's Dr. Evan Wood said.
He pointed out that cities and towns are left holding most of the bill for police enforcement of the current drug laws and associated gang violence.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, along with four of his predecessors, has also called for decriminalization, as have four former B.C. attorneys general and the province's chief medical officer.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Kent Molgat
