POT PARTY READY TO SOAR

Nanaimo's two provincial Marijuana Party candidates are sowing the seeds of
change in the mid-Island.

And though they readily admit the party is drawing more than its share of
media attention from its affiliation with the mind-expanding drug, they say
there's more to it than a legalized high.

"The Freedom Party might be a more all-encompassing title, but with the
election just around the corner, there's no time for a name change," says
Leonard Melman, the Nanaimo-Parksville Marijuana Party candidate.

Don Lavallee, the Nanaimo candidate, admits the party name is a useful gimmick.

"People remember the name," Lavallee says.

The party shares philosophical views with both left-leaning libertarians
and those usually associated with the far right.

So those who want marijuana decriminalized are really not that far removed
from those advocating for the rights of gun owners, says Melman.

Melman was president of the federal Canadian Alliance Party constituency
association in Parksville-Qualicum and although he's taken some heat from
members for jumping on the Marijuana Party bandwagon, he says it was
similar values that originally attracted him to the Alliance and its
predecessor, Reform.

"People truly interested in freedom have known my belief in that for a long
time," he says.

"I wouldn't touch the stuff with a 10-foot pole, but because I don't use it
doesn't mean in any way, shape or form someone else shouldn't be able to
use it."

Melman's last wife had cancer, and he has stark memories of how her
chemotherapy caused her nearly as much pain as the disease itself.

He has since learned that marijuana is useful in treating the nausea, but
government restricts its use as a treatment.

"The government should be held in check when it comes to any interference
in the lives of individuals, not just in drugs but all sorts of other
things," he says.

He cites gambling and lending money as a few other examples.

There is growing interest in the Marijuana Party, and Lavallee, a chef,
sees parallels with the uprising of the colonists against the ruling
British in 1776.

"It's like the Boston tea party," he says. "It wasn't just about tea, it
was about freedom."

Both candidates take a lot of ribbing for their platform, but Melman
insists he's serious.

"It is an absolute serious attempt to get enough of a message out to the
public that I believe we can form a real coalition," he says.

"When you look at the other parties, the NDP has proven its inadequacy, the
Green Party advocates big government at every turn, the Unity Party is
barely even recognized and the Liberal Party's only platform seems to be
they're not the NDP.

"Only the Marijuana Party has a genuine philosophy."