THE RELEVANCE OF POT POLITICS

On the Front Lines of the First-Ever Saskatchewan Marijuana Party Convention

Huddled in the dimly-lit basement of a bar in downtown Saskatoon, a
small group of marijuana activists joke about their political future.

"People don't take us very seriously," one of them laughs as he tucks
his dreadlocks behind his ear. "But we take ourselves pretty
seriously, and that's all that matters."

If not for the faint stench of smoke clinging to many of the members'
clothing, it would be hard to separate this congregation from any
other small-scale political gathering.

There is an acrid air of seriousness in the room. Constituency maps
scribbled with red marker are pinned on the walls.

The large table at the back is littered with leaflets, petitions, and flyers.

At the front of the room, two young members are explaining the policy
documents projected on to a large television screen -- if only for a
moment, the fervent idealism and adolescence of the pot movement
seems juxtaposed against a real sense of political urgency. The two
younger members at the front are wearing suits; others simply sport
the party logo on their t-shirts. Many of them have been here since
the early morning, debating policy, amending their constitution, and,
believe it or not, strategizing about how their party can win seats
in the next election.

"We are going to run as many candidates as we can," says Nathan
Holowaty, leader of the Saskatchewan Marijuana Party. "If there are
candidates who want to run in every riding, we will run candidates in
every riding."

According to Statistics Canada, in 2004, 4.5 million Canadians (14
per cent of the population) admitted to smoking marijuana during the
year. More than double that number, about 30 per cent of the Canadian
population, say they have smoked marijuana at least once in their
lifetime. However, despite the drug's obvious popularity and
widespread use, legalization and decriminalization issues have yet to
become major political concerns for most Canadians.

One of the obvious reasons for this lack of support is purely
demographic: in the 2004 study, 70 per cent of young people aged
18-24 said they used marijuana. This is the same age group routinely
accused of political apathy and dismal voting records.

But there is plenty of evidence to show that Canadians of all age
groups support the idea of a marijuana law reform.

Why is it, then, that Canada has failed to mobilize behind the pot movement?

Could it be that pot politics have become irrelevant?

"I guess it's a good idea to have someone like the Marijuana Party
push for legalization in the long run," says 23-year-old J.H., as he
flicks the ash from a joint he is casually smoking outside of his
suburban home, "but I think you have to go with the multi-issue party
there are other important issues out there other than marijuana."

J.H. is a self-professed marijuana user who has been smoking on a
regular basis since high school. Like many regular users, he admits
having pot legalized would ease some of his concerns about smoking
the drug, but in the end, he says he is more concerned politically
about larger, more pressing issues. "You have to think about the
better good. You cant just cut out everything else so you can smoke
pot more often."

At the Saskatchewan Marijuana Party's first official convention, the
topic of how best to push the marijuana agenda was front and centre.

The party has been around since 2004, but was only officially
ratified in June of last year. For most members, the notion of
actually winning seats in the Legislature is nothing more than a pipe dream.

Even their relatively successful political cousins to the west, the
BC Marijuana Party, whose roots grow in one of North America's most
notorious centres of pot culture, were unable to make a significant
impact, having only captured 0.65 per cent of the popular vote. For
the SMP, then, the focus is not so much winning seats, but rather
raising awareness about the issue.

"I think we are going to make a larger impact than any marijuana
party has ever done in Canada," boasts Holowaty. "There are fewer
parties here than there are in BC, and therefore we think we have a
stronger voice."

It seems the issue of how exactly to go about making a larger impact
is a matter of some debate. Ken Sailor, a long-time marijuana
activist and influential party member, is right in the middle of the
dispute. "You try to attack the obvious things," he says. "You try to
win the small battles."

While Sailor maintains that the party should remain a one issue
party, members like Ethan Erkiletian, the current president of SMP,
are looking to expand the party beyond the boarders of pot politics.
At the convention, Erkiletian put forward various motions pertaining
to areas of social justice not directly related to marijuana or drug
law reform.

Most of them were shot down after Sailor made his case for sticking
to the one-issue party platform.

"If you don't have a one-issue party like this, the message is not
going to get heard," Sailor explains. "We are not the Green Party or
the NDP. We are the Marijuana Party."

The SMP claims they have enough interest to run at least 15
candidates in the next provincial election. Although they expect to
have virtually no impact as far as actual votes count, the SMP claims
that their presence has already been felt.

The NDP passed a resolution at their last provincial convention
saying they want to see a legalized marijuana regime in Saskatchewan.
Of course, it is obvious the NDP government still has its
reservations about reforming marijuana laws, and it is not likely
that they would implement such a regime anytime soon. Nonetheless,
the SMP says it is a force to be reckoned with.

"The other parties aren't being as vocal as they should be," Holowaty
says. "We are going to hold their feet to the fire."