“I want to make sure that everybody understands that the NDP’s position is decriminalization the minute we form government,” Mulcair said in response to a question at a campaign event in Vancouver on Thursday.
Asked why the NDP favours decriminalization as opposed to legalization, Mulcair emphasized his party’s longstanding commitment to decriminalization.
“The NDP has had the same position for about 40 years,” Mulcair said. “Decriminalizing marijuana is the position of the NDP, it’s my position and it’s something that we can do immediately.”
The NDP leader has been on record before supporting decriminalization over legalization due to “a lot of complex issues, including supply, that have to be looked at in a lot more detailed fashion…. There is still a fair amount of hard work to be done to be able to get to solutions.”