POLITICAL MESSAGE BURNED INTO NELSON HILLSIDES, SAYS POLICE

Both the Nelson City Police and leader of the B.C. Marijuana Party are
frowning on an overzealous supporter who used a corrosive material to burn
local hillsides in support of the party.

Just before 3 p.m. Wednesday, police say they received a call about a man
using lye to burn the words "Vote Marijuana" into the hillside at
Cottonwood Falls park. When police located the 57-year-old Taghum resident
they found he had also used the same chemical to burn a similarly large
message on the hillside beside Highway 3A just near the overpass.

"Everybody has a right to come in and try and gain support for their party,
but you are not going to see that type of damage or disrespect for
environment handed out by the Liberal Party, the NDP or the Green Party,"
says NCP Sgt. Henry Paivarinta.

Lye is a highly concentrated aqueous solution of potassium hydroxide or
sodium hydroxide. The man used it to burn the grass, leaving just brown
dirt in the shape of letters supporting his party.

Though B.C. Marijuana Party leader Brian Taylor and his CannaBus were in
the Nelson area Wednesday, the Grand Forks resident says the stunt had no
official endorsement from the party.

"That's terrible...that's exactly the last thing we want happening out
there at this point," Taylor told the Daily News. "We appreciate people's
support, but that's a form of violence to me and we don't support that at
all. No defacing anything, especially in an area where environmental
sensitivity is so high. If they want to get the word out, bring out your
friends to vote, don't deface property or the environment."

Police did not detain the man responsible, but charges may be forthcoming.
Paivarinta says he will contact the Ministry of Highways to assess the
situation to see if the chemical could cause any slope instability or
environmental damage. If the ministry sees fit, criminal charges of
mischief could be considered.

Even though police and marijuana activists don't see eye-to-eye, Paivarinta
says in this case the party name has nothing to do with the investigation.

"It doesn't matter who would have put that into the bank, as far as the
police go we are obliged to investigate," he says. "But, this is something
that I wouldn't expect from the other parties."

Paivarinta and Taylor do agree on one thing, the man who decided to express
his support in a grandiose way probably didn't do his party of choice any
favours.

"The whole point of campaigning is to get support for your cause and I
can't think of a better way for people to be turned off by your party,"
says Paivarinta.