GOOD TIMES ROLL ON REAGAN-ERA BUS

Christopher Lord has seen the effects of wasting disease.

He's watched the life slowly drain from many of his AIDS-stricken friends
and felt helpless to ease their pain.

He recalls one night in San Francisco when a close, dying friend asked him
to go out and purchase a bag of marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes.

The American owner of the historical "Canna-bus," which stopped overnight
in Creston on Tuesday, recalls what happened when he tried to fulfil the
request of his shadowy and wispy friend.

"I lost a lot of friends to AIDS," said Lord, who has donated his bus to
the Marijuana party campaign until after Wednesday's provincial election."I
remember one night I was asked to go buy marijuana and I came back with a
bag of oregano."

Lord said he doesn't necessarily agree with the entire platform of the pot
party, but the former speech writer for Bill Clinton said both inhaling and
possessing the drug should be legal.

According to Lord, who now lives in the Lower Mainland, he originally
loaned the bus to "Grandma" Mavis Becker, the Marijuana party candidate for
Langley, who was desperate for some help as her campaign was going up in smoke.

Once the Vancouver media caught wind that the storied bus was being used in
a local campaign, a media frenzy ensued, he said.

Sensing the bus could help drive their campaign forward, party organizers
then asked Lord if they could use it until election day.

Lord, who never charges for the bus, said he thought about his lost friends
when he made the decision to both donate the use of bus and campaign with
the MJ party.

The 1972 International bus, ironically, was once used by former United
States president Ronald Reagan, who is famous for escalating the war on
drugs. In fact, the bus still has a presidential seal on the door and the
inteior is covered with photos of the many politicians Lord has worked with
over the years.

The fact the bus once belonged to Reagan is not lost on Nelson-Creston
Marijuana party candidate Dan Loehndorf.

"It's sort of like we did an exorcism on it, to remove the bad spirits," he
said. "I think there is magical quality to the bus."

Lord said he's been involved with many politicians over the years and
thinks Loehndorf faces a major problem in his run for office.

"Dan reminds me a little bit of Jimmy Carter," he said, referring to
another ex-president. "He's too honest for his own good."

At the request of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lord once loaned the bus to Jesse
"The Body" Ventura, helping the former wrestler take hold of Minnesota's
gubernatorial office.

"Everywhere I go, when the bus comes along, there is a huge media frenzy,"
said Lord, who claims to smoke only regular cigarettes.

Other celebrities have also taken an interest in the bus.

It has been used by - heaven only knows for what - actor and playboy
Charlie Sheen, whom, by the way, is one Hollywood star who might support
the MJ party's platform on legalizing brothels.

The bus has also been used by the Incredible Hulk (Lou Ferrigno) and
disgraced B.C. premier Bill Vander Zalm.

The only famous people who haven't used the bus, it seems, are the crooning
members of The Partridge Family.

"They would have liked to have been on the bus, I'm sure," Lord quipped.
"But they have a bus of their own."