MARIJUANA PARTY TOO FAR RIGHT, SAYS DEFEATED CANDIDATE

Citing philisophical differences, Graeme Smecher probably won't run for the
B.C Marijuana party again.

The candidate for Port Moody-Westwood said too many of his personal beliefs
clash with the pot party's policies: "I was expecting a bunch of hippies
and what I found was a bunch of right-wing libertarians," said Smecher, 20.
"I can't run a platform to my liking without being unfair to them." The
Port Moody resident said the basic principle of the Marijuana party is
complete personal freedom.

That includes legalized brothels, and hardly and gun control. "Some things
I find implausible," Smecher said. "I can't see them working in reality.
There has to be a balance between personal freedom and safety." A software
consultant for a Vancouver dot-com company, Smecher threw his hat into the
ring at the last minute just to make sure the fringe party ran a full slate
of candidates. He soon found out his left-wing leanings weren't compatible
with the conservative/libertarian direction of the Marijuana party.

Despite his disagreements, Smecher captured the second highest percentage
of votes for the party with 6.36 percent (1,359 votes). "There were only
three candidates so I captured more protest votes," Smecher said modestly.
Liberal incumbent Christy Clark won the Port Moody-Westwood seat easily
with 15,967 votes or 75 per cent of the ballots cast.