OTTAWA—Some grassroots New Democrats are calling on the party to endorse the legalization of marijuana at the policy convention in Montreal this weekend, arguing the current push for decriminalization does not go far enough.

Six NDP riding associations submitted resolutions calling for the legalization of marijuana to become official party policy.

“When it’s not legal, we’re creating the criminality and so we’re feeding into a flourishing black market,” said Christine McLaughlin, president of the Oshawa NDP riding association, which submitted a seventh resolution asking the party to campaign for the legalization and government regulation of cannabis without going so far as to amend the existing policy book.

The current version of the NDP policy book supports the decriminalization of marijuana.

“New Democrats believe in . . . decriminalizing marijuana possession with the goal of removing its production and distribution from the control of organized crime,” it says.

This position is also supported by NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, who last year had to clarify his stance on the issue after saying he believed decriminalizing marijuana would be a mistake.

“Terms like legalization and decriminalization are often inappropriately used interchangeably,” his spokesman, George Soule, later told The Canadian Press by way of explaining why Mulcair had appeared to contradict a party policy first adopted in 1999.

“But be very clear that Thomas Mulcair does not believe that anyone should be going to jail for possession of just a small amount of pot. Criminalization is not the answer for any area of social policy,” Soule said in April 2012.

The six riding associations who want the policy book to be amended to support the legalization of marijuana are Winnipeg Centre, the Toronto riding of Etobicoke—Lakeshore, Halifax, Victoria, Malpeque in Prince Edward Island and Fundy Royal in New Brunswick.

While seven riding associations are asking the party to support the legalization of marijuana, the NDP resolutions committee chose to put a different one, from the B.C. riding of Esquimalt — Juan de Fuca, calling on the party to affirm its support for decriminalization on its priority list.

Nathan Rotman, national director for the NDP, said the resolutions committee comes up with its priority list based on geography as well as what is going on in the news and Canadian politics at the time.

Rotman also stressed it will be up to convention delegates to decide which resolutions make it to the floor for a vote.

“The resolutions committee has created what they feel to be a fair, representative list of priorities,” Rotman said.

“The members are the final democratic say at convention,” Rotman said.

The NDP policy convention begins this Friday in Montreal.

Marko Ivancicevic, a social activist who said he joined the NDP a decade ago when the party appeared open to legalization, said he left when he realized they were moving away from that stance.

Now a Liberal, he said he does not really believe members will end up voting in favour of the resolutions, even if they do make it to the floor.

“I can’t foresee Thomas Mulcair allowing an endorsement of legalization to go through right now,” said Ivancicevic, who is on the executive of the Oshawa Liberals riding association but still played a role, according to McLaughlin, in helping the local NDP riding association support legalization by raising awareness about the issue in the community.

Ivancicevic said he believes the Liberals are the more likely party to end up going that route.

“I see a lot more productive things going on with this issue with the Liberals than we will see form the NDP. I think that realistically, on this issue, they have had their 15 minutes of fame with it and they didn’t go anywhere with it,” said Ivancicevic.

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