Marijuana Parties are formal political parties set up specifically to legalize cannabis. They exist in Canada (federally, and provincially in British Columbia and Québec), Australia, New Zealand 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.
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.
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 regularly record around 2% of the popular vote - two-fifths 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 Bloc Pot ran in their first election campaign. In February 2000, this group launched the Marijuana Party of Canada and run in the federal election with 73 candidates.
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Last updated: 10-18-2005 05:13:49
