Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol
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Chairperson | Paul Birch[1] |
Founded | 2015 |
Ideology | Cannabis legalisation |
Website | |
cista.org | |
Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol (CISTA) is a political party in the United Kingdom which advocates for the legalisation of cannabis.
The party was launched in February 2015.[2] The party had candidates in the2015 General Election campaigning for a Royal Commission to review the UK’s drug laws relating to cannabis and push the economic argument for legalisation, which the party argues could generate £900 million in taxation.[3]None of the candidates won a seat.
Electoral performance[edit]
General election, 7 May 2015[edit]
The party contested 32 constituencies, with its largest share of the vote coming in East Londonderry with 527 (1.5%).
Constituency | Candidate | Votes | % |
---|---|---|---|
Bethnal Green & Bow | Jonathan Dewey | 303 | 0.5 |
Camberwell & Peckham | Alexander Robertson | 197 | 0.4 |
Cities of London & Westminster | Edouard-Henri Desforges | 160 | 0.4 |
Dundee, E | Lesley Parker-Hamilton | 225 | 0.5 |
East Londonderry | Neil Paine | 527 | 1.5 |
Eddisbury | George Antar | 301 | 0.6 |
Esher & Walton | Matt Heenan | 396 | 0.7 |
Glasgow, Central | James Marris | 171 | 0.4 |
Glasgow, N | Russell Benson | 154 | 0.4 |
Glasgow, NE | Geoff Johnson | 225 | 0.6 |
Glasgow, NW | Chris MacKenzie | 213 | 0.5 |
Great Yarmouth | Sam Townley | 167 | 0.4 |
Guildford | Gerri Smyth | 196 | 0.4 |
Hackney, S & Shoreditch | Paul Birch | 297 | 0.6 |
Holborn & St Pancras | Shane O’Donnell | 252 | 0.5 |
Inverclyde | Craig Hamilton | 233 | 0.5 |
Islington, S & Finsbury | Jay Kirton | 309 | 0.7 |
Kensington | Tony Auguste | 211 | 0.6 |
Leeds, W | Matthew West | 217 | 0.6 |
North Down | Glenn Donnelly | 338 | 0.9 |
Paisley & Renfrewshire, N | Andy Doyle | 202 | 0.4 |
Rutherglen & Hamilton, W | Yvonne Maclean | 336 | 0.6 |
Sheffield, SE | Jen Battersby | 207 | 0.5 |
Stoke-on-Trent, Central | Ali Majid | 244 | 0.8 |
Streatham | Artificial Beast | 192 | 0.4 |
Thurrock | Jamie Barnes | 244 | 0.5 |
Upper Bann | Martin Kelly | 460 | 1.0 |
Vale of Glamorgan | Steve Reed | 238 | 0.5 |
Vauxhall | Louis Jensen | 164 | 0.3 |
Wakefield | Elliot Barr | 283 | 0.7 |
West Tyrone | Barry Brown | 528 | 1.4 |
Woking | Declan Wade | 229 | 0.4 |
Source: BBC News Election 2015[4]
London mayoral election, 5 May 2016[edit]
Lee Harris stood for CISTA in the 2016 London Mayoral election. He was positioned in ninth place out of twelve candidates, obtaining 20,537 first round votes (0.8%).[5]
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 5 May 2016[edit]
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 with 2.2% (1,032 first-preference votes).[6]
Constituency | Candidate | First-preference votes | % |
---|---|---|---|
Foyle | John Lindsay | 259 | 0.7 |
Newry and Armagh | Emmet Crossan | 1,032 | 2.2 |
Upper Bann | Martin Kelly | 672 | 1.5 |
West Tyrone | Barry Brown | 547 | 1.4 |