Pro-pot political party ‘Legalise Cannabis Western Australia’ is on track to win a seat in the WA state election.
Legalise Cannabis WA (LCWA) was only formed in November last year after their sister-party LCQ celebrated success in the Queensland election. Within one month of launch, LCWA had reached 501 verified members – becoming an official political party in December.
This week, it’s been announced that LCWA is likely to secure a seat in WA’s Upper House. While votes are still being counted, LCWA has already secured just over 2% of the primary vote. Currently, that’s over 20,930 votes.
If LCWA does succeed in winning a seat, it will be held by candidate Sophie Moermond. Ms Moermond is a 52-year-old naturopath from Perth. She is running in the South West region and would replace Greens MP Diane Evers. Ms Evers has held the seat since 2017. She has not yet conceded her seat but told the ABC she would rather have a candidate from “the right side of politics” take her place over a candidate from a major party.
If elected, Ms Moermond will push for the legalisation of cannabis and better access to medical cannabis. Her interest in cannabis comes from her time as a nurse and her mother’s experience with CBD oil. According to a statement on her Facebook, CBD oil has benefited her mother’s symptoms but is expensive and difficult to access.
People deserve a good quality of life and no one should need to suffer when solutions are available. We all deserve to have access to low-risk strategies that reduce our discomforts, both physical and mental/emotional.
LCWA ran 12 candidates for the Upper House, including Brian Walker (a medical practitioner and authorised prescriber of medicinal cannabis). Mr Walker was initially expected to win a seat in the East Metropolitan Region, but this no longer seems likely.
While the prospect of an LCWA member in the Upper House is exciting for WA residents, Ms Moermond’s seat is not yet guaranteed, as only 67% of the votes have been counted. Final results for the election are expected soon, and hopefully, they’ll see WA prioritising cannabis reform.