Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol (CISTA) was a
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, which advocated the
legalisation
Legalization is the process of removing a legal prohibition against something which is currently not legal.
Legalization is a process often applied to what are regarded, by those working towards legalization, as victimless crimes, of which one ...
of
cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...
.
The party was launched in February 2015. The party fielded candidates in the
2015 general election, campaigning for a
Royal Commission to review the UK's drug laws relating to cannabis and to push the economic argument for legalisation, which it argued could generate £900 million in taxation. None of the candidates won a seat.
The party was deregistered by the
Electoral Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
on 3 November 2016.
[Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol [De-registered 03/11/16]
/nowiki>">e-registered 03/11/16">Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol [De-registered 03/11/16
/nowiki> The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 8 January 2017. Former members of the party from Northern Ireland registered a new party with the same initials, Citizens Independent Social Thought Alliance, in February 2017 to contest the
2017 Assembly election.
Electoral performance
General election, 7 May 2015
The party contested 32 constituencies, with its largest share of the vote coming in
East Londonderry East Londonderry or East Derry can refer to:
* The eastern part of County Londonderry
* The eastern part of the city of Derry
* East Londonderry (Assembly constituency)
* East Londonderry (UK Parliament constituency)
East Londonderry is a par ...
with 527 (1.5%).
Source: ''BBC News Election 2015''
2016 London mayoral election">London mayoral election, 5 May 2016
Lee Harris stood for CISTA in the 2016 London Mayoral election. He finished ninth out of twelve candidates, obtaining 20,537 first-round votes (0.8%).
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 5 May 2016
The party contested four of the 18 constituencies, with its largest share of the vote in any election that the party had contested coming in
Newry and Armagh Newry and Armagh can refer to:
* Newry and Armagh (Assembly constituency)
*Newry and Armagh (UK Parliament constituency)
Newry and Armagh is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Mickey Brady o ...
with 2.2% (1,032 first-preference votes).
Citizens Independent Social Thought Alliance
Following the de-registering of Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol in November 2016,
[ a new party bearing the same initials, Citizens Independent Social Thought Alliance, was registered with the ]Electoral Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
in February 2017,[ one week before the close of nominations for the snap elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The leader of this new party is Barry Brown, who was a CISTA candidate in 2016 and 2017.
]
Electoral performance
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2 March 2017
The party contested three of the 18 constituencies, with its largest share of the vote coming in Newry and Armagh Newry and Armagh can refer to:
* Newry and Armagh (Assembly constituency)
*Newry and Armagh (UK Parliament constituency)
Newry and Armagh is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Mickey Brady o ...
with 704 first-preference votes (1.3%).
2017 United Kingdom general election
The 2017 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 8 June 2017, two years after the previous general election in 2015; it was the first since 1992 to be held on a day that did not coincide with any local elections. The governing ...
See also
* Cannabis classification in the United Kingdom
Cannabis classification in the United Kingdom refers to the class of drugs, as determined by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, that cannabis is placed in. Between 1928 and 2004 and since 2009, it has been classified as a class B drug. From 2004 to 200 ...
* Cannabis in the United Kingdom
Cannabis in the United Kingdom is illegal for recreational use and is classified as a Class B drug. In 2004, cannabis was made a Class C drug with less severe penalties but it was moved back to Class B in 2009. Medical use of cannabis, when pr ...
* Cannabis political parties
Cannabis political parties are generally single-issue parties that exist to oppose the laws against cannabis.
Australia
In the 1970s, J.J. McRoach ran for parliament as candidate for the Australian Marijuana Party. He had an advertising campa ...
* Drug policy reform
Drug liberalization is a drug policy process of decriminalizing or legalizing the use or sale of prohibited drugs. Variations of drug liberalization include: drug legalization, drug re-legalization and drug decriminalization. Proponents of drug ...
* List of British politicians who have acknowledged cannabis use
''Cannabis'' is a genus of flowering plants with species that have long been used for fibre ( hemp), for medicinal purposes, and as a drug. Industrial hemp products are made from cannabis plants selected to produce an abundance of fiber and mi ...
* List of political parties in the United Kingdom
The Electoral Commission's Register of Political Parties lists the details of political parties registered to fight elections in the United Kingdom, including their registered name. Under current electoral law, including the Registration of ...
References
External links
Official website
* Paul Birch
''The Telegraph'', 4 March 2015
Election 2015: Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol Party
''BBC News'', 31 March 2015
Lee Harris, the moral crusader turned cannabis activist vying to be London mayor
''The Guardian'', 12 March 2016
{{Cannabis in the United Kingdom
2015 establishments in the United Kingdom
Political parties established in 2015
Cannabis political parties of the United Kingdom
2015 in cannabis
Single-issue political parties in United Kingdom