TAYLOR QUITS IN MARIJUANA PARTY BLOW-UP

Brian Taylor, the leader of the B.C. Marijuana Party, has resigned from his
post and turned in his party membership in a dispute with party president
Marc Emery.

Taylor said he disagreed with the way Emery controls the party.

"Marc runs the Marijuana Party like a corporate structure -- he makes all
the decisions, he pays the bills, he calls the tune. I can't work in that
kind of non-democratic environment."

And Taylor, who plans to help set up an alternative political party, also
wasn't happy with Emery's decision to rapidly expand "compassion" clubs
distributing pot for medical purposes under the banner of the party.

"It's wrong to assume that just because there's 80-per-cent-plus support
for medical marijuana, that transposes into people supporting the Marijuana
Party to go out and basically bend or break the laws," said Taylor, the
former mayor of Grand Forks and a losing candidate in the recent provincial
election.

Taylor said the clubs will not operate within federal guidelines -- a point
that Emery readily admits.

The party president, noting that Taylor had done "a great job" and that the
two are still on good terms, said he was nonetheless surprised at Taylor's
objection to his plans for the clubs.

Emery said he plans to establish 27 compassion clubs by the end of 2002.