Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol (CISTA) was a political party in the United Kingdom, which advocated the legalisation of cannabis.
The party was launched in February 2015.Lamiat Sabin, "Cannabis party called Cista launched in UK to campaign for drug law reform ahead of elections", The Independent, 14 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 on 3 November 2016.Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol [De-registered 03/11/16]. 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 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 2015BBC 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
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 with 2.2% (1,032 first-preference votes). 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 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 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 with 704 first-preference votes (1.3%). Constituency Candidate First-preference votes % Foyle John LindsayElectoral Office for Northern Ireland, STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED Foyle 196 0.4 Newry and Armagh Emmet CrossanElectoral Office for Northern Ireland, STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED Newry and Armagh 704 1.3 West Tyrone Barry BrownElectoral Office for Northern Ireland, STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED West Tyrone 373 0.8
2017 United Kingdom general election Constituency Candidate Votes % Position West Tyrone Barry Brown 393 0.9 7"Election 2017: West Tyrone", BBC News. Retrieved 12 June 2017
See also Cannabis classification in the United Kingdom Cannabis in the United Kingdom Cannabis Law Reform Cannabis political parties Drug policy reform List of British politicians who have acknowledged cannabis use List of political parties in the United Kingdom
References
External links Official website Paul Birch, "The economic case for legalising cannabis", 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