MARIJUANA PARTY CANDIDATE SCORES DECENT NUMBERS

'Welcome to Westbank-the Highest little town in B.C.'

Local worthies might want to consider that as a possible new motto
following the strong showing by Marijuana Party candidate Teresa Taylor in
the provincial election.

Taylor, 25, got more votes in the new riding of Okanagan-Westside than any
other candidate running for the party in B.C's 78 other ridings.

With 1,136 votes, she even outpolled her father, Marijuana Party leader
Brian Taylor, who managed just 785 votes in West Kootenay Boundary.

But dad wasn't bothered about being upstaged by daughter.

"No, no, not at all," he said Thursday. "I'm proud of her. She ran a good,
strong campaign and worked really hard to get out and be recognized.

Provincewide, the Marijuana Party received more than three per cent of the
popular vote. But Taylor's support in Okanagan-Westside, which includes all
of the Westside plus Peachland and Summerland, equalled 5.6 per cent of all
ballots cast.

Community leaders dismissed the idea that Taylor's showing suggests pot use
might be more common on the Westside than anywhere else in B.C.

"I don't have any knowledge of that being the case," said Aaron Dinwoodie,
regional district representative for the Westside. "But then, you're
probably asking the wrong guy, because I don't smoke or drink."

Dinwoodie, who worked on Rick Thorpe's campaign, said Taylor likely
benefited somewhat from the absence of a Green Party candidate in the riding.

While the Marijuana Party received generally favourable or tongue-in-cheek
media coverage, a Westside Weekly newspaper columnist wrote an anti-drug
article, based on information distributed by Crime Stoppers.

Crime Stoppers spokesman Mike Guzzi noted Thursday that marijuana
production, distribution and possession remains a criminal offence. "And I
haven't seen any medical literature that suggests drug use is a good
thing," Guzzi said.

Teresa Taylor, a graduate of George Pringle Secondary School in Westbank,
couldn't be reached for comment Thursday as she travelling back to the
Okanagan from Vancouver, where she watched the election results at the
party's headquarters.

However, during the campaign, she said: "Five per cent of the popular vote
would be a victory for me."