CHOICES, OPTIONS AND TOLERANCE

TO HELP OUR readers make an informed decision on May 16, The News has
offered each candidate the space for a 300-word essay. The following is the
submission from the Marijuana Party candidate for Alberni-Qualicum,
Nicholas Thorp:

There are many issues surfacing in this election and the basis of the B.C.
Marijuana Party's platform, and the candidacy of Nicholas St. Edmund Thorp
is that of "choices, options, tolerance." That the voices of the citizens
of this province be heard, clearly, is of the utmost importance in good
government.

Polls consistently show that most people see marijuana as an essentially
harmless herb with recreational or social, and valuable medicinal uses
(glaucoma, epilepsy, aids, hepatitis, appetite stimulant, pain management,
etc.). We will strive to remove provincial funding (hundreds of millions of
dollars) for enforcement of marijuana prohibition, a consensual crime, and
identify where you would rather see it spent. Would it be more effectively
used to support our health care system? To educate our children and
grandchildren? to increase personal safety by allowing the police to focus
on real crime? Legalization would also help to free up our clogged criminal
justice system and provide tax revenue.

We support choice of complimentary or alternative medicines and would
expand health care coverage to include time-tested therapies from other
cultures, as well as a broader range of preventative therapies.

We can have a positive impact on the financial status of our province and
the people who live here by following the examples of countries, such as
Switzerland, Belgium, Holland and other European nations, who have moved
towards legal cannabis cultivation for industrial, medicinal and commercial
markets. Clothing, fibreboard for construction and paper are just a few of
the value-added products created from this renewable resource and hemp will
produce four times the equivalent amount of fibre for paper than wood.

Marijuana legalization is symbolic of prosperity for all and new solutions.

Vote Nicholas St. Edmund Thorp, B.C. Marijuana Party.