The Legalise Cannabis Western Australia Party (LCWA party) is a political party registered in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The party advocates for

law reform Law reform or legal reform is the process of examining existing laws, and advocating and implementing change in a legal system, usually with the aim of enhancing justice or efficiency. Intimately related are law reform bodies or law commissions, ...

in relation to cannabis.

History

The LCWA party is the sister party of the LCQ party and affiliate of the HEMP Party and Medical Cannabis Users Association of Australia (MCUA). Following in the success of its sister party LCQ in the 2020 Queensland state election the Party was registered by the

Western Australian Electoral Commission The Western Australian Legislative Assembly is elected from 59 single-member electoral districts. These districts are often referred to as ''electorates'' or ''seats''. The ''Electoral Distribution Act 1947'' requires regular review of electoral ...

on 29 January 2021 to contest the 2021 Western Australian state election, at which two of its candidates – Brian Walker in East Metropolitan Region and Sophia Moermond in South-West Region – were elected to the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...

Legalise Cannabis Western Australia MPs vote against vaccine mandates

In February 2022, MPs from Legalise Cannabis Western Australia were the only elected representatives in the

to vote against imposing

vaccine mandates A vaccination policy is a health policy adopted in order to prevent the spread of infectious disease. These policies are generally put into place by State or local governments, but may also be set by private facilities, such as workplaces or s ...

on MPs. One of the party's MPs, Sophia Moermond, who had described the mandates as "medical apartheid", was subsequently suspended from parliament under the new rules.

Policies

The Party's policies are around the personal, medical and industrial uses of cannabis. In particular, the Party believes: *That government should legalise cannabis and introduce enlightened regulations around its supply and consumption *That a hemp and cannabis industry should be developed and encouraged *That indigenous participation in the industry should be encouraged and subsidised *That access to medicinal cannabis should be easier and low cost *That cheap testing of cannabis products by labs and scientists be facilitated *That criminal convictions for possession of cannabis should be expunged

Electoral results

The party fielded candidates for the first time in the 2021 Western Australian state election and received two seats in the Legislative Council with the fifth largest number of votes (26,818) by party behind the Nationals. The party fielded a limited number of candidates in the Legislative Assembly and received 4,996 votes.

References

External links