JOINT EFFORT THRILLS MARIJUANA PARTY

If the Marijuana Party had its way, anyone who wanted to smoke a joint in
Canada would be able to in a safe, legal environment.

Party leader Marc-Boris Saint-Maurice saw the results of Monday's federal
election-the party's first-as a great leap forward toward that end.

" We were launching on the scene at (the federal) level. " he said. " I dare
say we got one of the stronger first showings among the small parties. That
really shows how much support we have out there for what we're promoting. "

The Party received more than 65,000 votes nationwide - 35,000 of them in
Quebec. Saint-Maurice received more than 2,000 votes in Laurier
Sainte-Marie riding, the fiefdom of Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe.

" I knew i was good for 1,000 votes, maybe more, " Saint-Maurice said at a
Mile End coffee shop yesterday afternoon. " But over 2,000 votes went well
beyong my expectations. "

But the real shock for Saint-Maurice was the party's ability to field 22
candidates in Ontario, a Liberal stronghold he has largely ignored until
now.

" That was pretty much undiscovered territory, " Saint-Maurice sais. "It's
something to build on for next time. "

The results in Ontario and British Columbia were comparable to the results
the party saw agrer its first provincial election es to field a candidate in
everu riding in Canada thes time, the party fielded 73 candidates, withe
each attracting an average of 908 votes.

" (The election) has shown that marijuana-users are bright motivated,
hard-working individuals, and - contrary to popular misconceptions -
apathetic, too-stoned-to-tie-their-shoes kind of people, " he said. "What
we've really won in this election is leverage and recognition as a
legitimate constituency. "

Saint-Maurice said the door is open to starting a municipal Marijuana Party
in Montreal. He sees this city as the continent's most tolerant toward
marijuana-users.

" The presence of marijuana in Montreal culture is quite well ingrained, "
Saint-Maurice said. " We could take an Amsterdam-style approach, where there
would be no police intervention and certain conditions for simple possession
and trafficking small amounts. There's lots of ways to go.