POT ADVOCATES WARY OF POT PARTY

Well-known Victoria marijuana legalization advocate Ted Smith says
the B.C. Marijuana Party should stick to the basics of bud.

Smith co-founded the Vancouver Island Cannabis Buyers Club (VICBC)
five years ago in Victoria and has since built up a client list of
hundreds, who the club supplies with pot for medicinal purposes.

As far as the Marijuana Party's traditional voting base is concerned,
Smith's ballot should be secure. But it's not.

According to Smith, the party is alienating once guaranteed votes by
pursuing allegiances with the political right and sidelining its
single, most important issue of ending pot prohibition, in favour of
a broad political platform.

The Marijuana Party's appeal to Canadian Alliance voters to join them
for the 2001 provincial election is alarming, argues Smith, as are
comments about health care made by Marijuana Party president Marc
Emery in the April 14 Vancouver Sun.

In the article, Emery is quoted on the issue of health care as
saying, "We should make accommodation possible so that people with
extra money can buy extra services." In that same article, Emery said
"socialized medicine will always lead to crisis".

Emery doesn't deny making the statements, nor does he deny advocating
a multi-tiered approach to health care, where the wealthy pay for
services. Rich people should be encouraged to pay for services so
they can make room for the poor in the system, says Emery.

As far as the wider party platform is concerned, Emery says all 79
Marijuana Party candidates support the policies it contains and he is
confident the platform will appeal to voters, pot users in particular.

The Marijuana Party is not looking to form government, Emery says,
but they do want to place second to the B.C. Liberals in as many
ridings as possible, by drawing disaffected NDP votes away from
Gordon Campbell.

By attacking the government in all areas of policy, says
Victoria-Hillside Marijuana hopeful Chuck Beyer, the hope is the
government will "self-destruct" on the legalization question.

Marijuana Party policies such as ballot initiative have more support
than ending pot prohibition, notes Beyer.

And, he continues, those issues are neither on the left or the right
of the political spectrum.

"We don't think we're going to lose the votes of people who smoke
pot," insists Beyer.

While Smith has questions about where the Marijuana Party is going
policy wise, the Vancouver Island Compassion Society's Philippe Lucas
is a little more supportive.

The party is bringing attention to a "very important discussion that
needs to happen," says Lucas.