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Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol

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Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol (CISTA) was a political party in the United Kingdom, which advocated the legalisation of cannabis.

Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol
AbbreviationCISTA
ChairpersonPaul Birch[1]
FoundedFebruary 2015
DissolvedNovember 2016
IdeologyCannabis legalisation
Website
cista.org
Citizens Independent Social Thought Alliance
ChairpersonBarry Brown[2]
Founded2017
IdeologyCannabis legalisation

The party was launched in February 2015.[3] 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.[4] None of the candidates won a seat.

The party was deregistered by the Electoral Commission on 3 November 2016.[5] 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.[2]

Electoral performance

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General election, 7 May 2015

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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[6]

London mayoral election, 5 May 2016

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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%).[7]

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 5 May 2016

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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).[8]

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

Citizens Independent Social Thought Alliance

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Following the de-registering of Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol in November 2016,[5] a new party bearing the same initials, Citizens Independent Social Thought Alliance, was registered with the Electoral Commission in February 2017,[2] 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

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Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2 March 2017

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The party contested three of the 18 constituencies, with its largest share of the vote coming in Newry and Armagh with 704 first-preference votes (1.3%).

Constituency Candidate First-preference votes %
Foyle John Lindsay[9] 196 0.4
Newry and Armagh Emmet Crossan[10] 704 1.3
West Tyrone Barry Brown[11] 373 0.8

2017 United Kingdom general election

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Constituency Candidate Votes % Position
West Tyrone Barry Brown 393 0.9 7[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Interview: Paul Birch, founder of UK party for a review into cannabis law". The Mancunian. 14 March 2015. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Registration - Citizens Independent Social Thought Alliance". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  3. ^ Lamiat Sabin, "Cannabis party called Cista launched in UK to campaign for drug law reform ahead of elections", The Independent, 14 February 2015
  4. ^ "New UK political party wants to make cannabis an election issue". The Guardian. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  5. ^ a b Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol [De-registered 03/11/16]. The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  6. ^ BBC News Election 2015. Results for Bethnal Green & Bow, Camberwell & Peckham, Cities of London & Westminster, Dundee East, East Londonderry, Eddisbury, Esher & Walton, Glasgow Central, Glasgow North, Glasgow North East, Glasgow North West, Great Yarmouth, Guildford, Hackney South & Shoreditch, Holborn & St Pancras, Inverclyde, Islington South & Finsbury, Kensington, Leeds West, North Down, Paisley & Renfrewshire, N, Rutherglen & Hamilton West, Sheffield South East, Stoke-on-Trent Central, Streatham, Thurrock, Upper Bann, Vale of Glamorgan , Vauxhall, Wakefield, West Tyrone, Woking
  7. ^ "Politics Live: Election results coverage". BBC News. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  8. ^ "NI Election 2016: Results". BBC News. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  9. ^ Electoral Office for Northern Ireland, STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED Foyle
  10. ^ Electoral Office for Northern Ireland, STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED Newry and Armagh
  11. ^ Electoral Office for Northern Ireland, STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED West Tyrone
  12. ^ "Election 2017: West Tyrone", BBC News. Retrieved 12 June 2017
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