British Columbia Marijuana Party

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British Columbia Marijuana Party (BCMP) was a minor political party in British Columbia that pushed for the legalization of cannabis. It formed in 2000, the day after the federal election, with Marc Emery as president. The party’s first leader in the 2001 provincial election was Brian Taylor, a former mayor of Grand Forks and cannabis activist. BCMP made BC history by fielding candidates in every riding in their first campaign. In 2001 they won 51,206 votes (3.22%). Teresa Taylor, Brian Taylor’s daughter, had the party’s highest local share with 5.6% in Okanagan-Westside. After 2001, Dana Larsen became leader, followed by Marc Emery when Larsen joined the New Democratic Party in 2003; Emery remained president and organizer, despite facing extradition to the United States for selling marijuana seeds by mail order. In the 2005 election, BCMP ran 44 candidates and received 11,519 votes (0.64%). Before the 2009 election, the party endorsed Green Party candidates in every riding, but still ran two candidates to keep party status; those two candidates also endorsed the Green candidates. The party ran two candidates in 2013 and none in 2017. BCMP deregistered with Elections BC in October 2019. The party’s colors were tan and green, its headquarters were in Vancouver, and it held no seats in the legislature (0 of 87).