PARTY IS ABOUT MORE THAN LEGALIZING POT

The B.C. Marijuana Party candidate in Chilliwack-Sumas wants voters
to know he is a serious ballot choice - and that his party is about
far more than pot legalization.

Far, far more, man.

Norm Siefken, an X-ray technician who ran for the federal Marijuana
Party in last year's federal election, notes the new party would
legalize and regulate brothels, make ballot initiatives easier and
introduce school vouchers.

Siefkin is squaring off against B.C. Liberal candidate John Les, the
former Chilliwack mayor, and New Democrat hopeful Christine Muise, a
UCFV student, in the new riding.

Lots of voters approached Siefken while he ran during the federal
election to say they liked the idea of legalizing marijuana, Siefken
said. But "many people thought we were basically a joke," explained
the 42-year-old Chilliwack resident, who picked up 851 votes and
placed fifth out of nine candidates in the Fraser Valley riding in
the federal election.

Many of the B.C. Marijuana Party's planks touch on the drug issue,
such as taxing dope sold commercially, stopping the financing of the
war against drugs, and an end to seizing the children of parents
charged with growing pot.

However, the party would also get rid of the gun registry, expand
restorative justice for victims of crime and allow more alternative
and preventative therapies in the health care system.

The common theme running through the platforms is less government and
more individual freedom, Siefken said. Several Canadian Alliance
workers have signed on to work with the party, he noted.

As for his personal pot use, Siefken said he has a prescription for
medical marijuana, and tokes up about every two weeks when pain from
a chronic back injury flares up.

Siefken became national news yesterday courtesy of a front-page
photograph in the National Post showing him holding up some B.C. bud
while party founder Marc Emery, a marijuana millionaire, lights up a
joint.

He is holding a fundraiser at Area 51 nightclub in Chilliwack next
Thursday to raise money for his campaign.

John Les, Liberal candidate in Chilliwack-Sumas, opens his campaign
office today between 3 and 5 p.m. The office is located in Chilliwack
at 110-44488 South Sumas Road (at the corner of Unsworth and South
Sumas Road). Les will use a motorhome as a travelling campaign office
in the Abbotsford portion of the riding.