HAVE LOCAL POLITICIANS SMOKED POT - AND DOES IT MATTER?

When a huge smiling mug of Canadian Alliance leadership hopeful
Stockwell Day hit the cover of the Globe and Mail last month it wasn't
for a solid fiscal conservative policy, but rather the headline over
the picture of the ex-preacher read, "I DID INHALE."

Politicians who have smoked dope in their past makes for juicy
headlines and usually sets off a number of ethical and moral debates
for both the elected representatives and those who report on the
nation's leaders. Is it simply attempting to flush out every skeleton
from a public official's closet or are questions of drug use relevant
to public policy - say the on-going debate of legalizing marijuana for
instance?

"Occasional drug use from 20 or 30 years ago is hardly relevant and I
think it is seen as such," said Robert Hackett, a Simon Fraser
University professor in the School of Communication and co-director of
News Watch Canada. "I don't think we need to know all the details of
politicians' private lives, except that insofar as it reflects in some
way on their public performance and integrity as a public official."

When his teenage marijuana experiment became public last week,
Stockwell Day seemed to shrug it off saying most Canadians would put
what he did 30 years ago as a high school student in context.

So if the man hoping to knock off Preston Manning as the leader of the
right wing in Canada seems to think it's a non-issue, what do
politicians in the Kootenays think? After all, most of them know that
the underground marijuana industry in this part of Canada is a huge
contributor to the local economy and Kootenay weed is renowned on both
sides of the border.

So have our local politicians "inhaled?" A Nelson Daily News survey
of elected representatives at all levels - federal, provincial, city,
school board - indicates the majority have not. Out of the nine
politicians contacted over the past week, only two admitted to ever
trying marijuana, five gave definite "no" answers, and two refused to
answer the question. Councillor Janice Morrison and School Trustee Bob
Henderson could not be reached for comment.

Regardless of what they have done in their past, the large majority
did agree on one thing - the question bears little relevance to the
jobs they are doing on behalf of the public.

"I don't think your question is fair at all," said Nelson City
Councillor John Dooley. "I think it's a fair question if you want to
take particular groups of people in the community that cover a broad
base of areas and ask the question. But, I think it's unfair to
single out politicians. When you have a question that pertains to how
the city is run I'll be more than happy to deal with it. I don't
think it's anybody's business what people do that doesn't pertain to
how the city is operated."

Dooley was not the only politician to raise concerns about the media
posing questions about elected officials personal lives. Like Dooley,
Councillor Gord McAdams would not answer the question.

"That's personal and I don't think it's appropriate to comment on," he
said. "I'm judged on the performance of what I do in the job I'm
doing, it doesn't matter what I've done in a past life. If I had to
make decisions whether marijuana was going to be legalized or not
legalized then yes, it wouild be fair to call me on it. But, that is
not a role of local government so it's neither here nor there as far
as I'm concerned."

Of those who said "no," most had a story to go with their lifelong
marijuana abstinence.

"Never tried it, wasn't interested," said Kootenay-Boundary-Okanagan
Canadian Alliance MP Jim Gouk. "I remember one time I was out with a
bunch of guys I worked with down on the coast for a bit of pub crawl
and we were walking down a back alley in East Vancouver and suddenly
one of them whips out a joint and starts passing it around. Then
there was Jim Gouk walking 10 feet away from them and they sort of
gave me the hee haw. I said 'you guys want to do that go ahead, me,
I'm high on life anyways.' Frankly I just wasn't prepared to face the
penalties if they got caught for whatever it is they thought they were
getting out of it. That was my thing, I didn't have anything against
anybody doing it, I just didn't want them doing it around because I
don't need the hassle."

Mayor Gary Exner, Councillor Doug Jay, Councillor John Murray and
School Trustee Norm McCarvell all said they had been around people who
have smoked pot, but have never themselves been tempted.

"No I have never, ever in my life touched marijuana or cigarettes for
that matter," Jay said.

"But, you say that and nobody will ever believe it because everybody
is admiting they smoked something."

If past marijuana use is considered a political skeleton, the only two
local politicians who admit to having something in the closets are
Nelson-Creston MLA Corky Evans and Councillor Dave Cherry.

"I did when I was younger, but who didn't?" said Cherry, who is known
for his candidness on issues. "For those of us who grew up in the
Kootenays in the 60s and 70s...I mean during that time the stuff was
basically rolling down the street."

Evans, who grew up south of the border during the 1960s, said he too
experimented with pot in his youth.

"Like many people in my teenage years I did on occasion," Evans
said.

Evans said he stopped doing it after he met his wife who objected to
smoking pot. He added that when he immigrated to Canada he was
careful that he didn't even go places where he thought people might be
smoking dope because he didn't want to jeopardize his opportunity to
become a citizen.

Both Evans and Cherry didn't hesitate when asked the question, but
both agreed it has little to do with what they do now.

"Quite frandly, I don't see how this is relevant to my position as a
city councillor," Cherry said. "To me this is like asking 'what's
your preference in the bedroom?' This is my personal business and I
don't think the public has any right to know. If they have a question
about my abilities to perform my duties and they think there is a
correlation there then fine."

Some experts in the field of politics agree with Cherry.

"I don't really regard it as a serious question if it doesn't impede
their ability to fulfill their current political responsibilities,"
said University of Victoria Political Science Professor Norman Ruff.
"If it doesn't then we've got no business knowing whether they inhaled
or not."

Others go further, saying to ask questions about pot smoking is a
sensational Americanized approach to journalism.

"I don't think it's a question that should be asked," said Professor
Stephen Ward, who teaches media ethics at Sing Tao School of
Journalism at the University of British Columbia. "Unless it's
directly relevant to their job then I think we are just poking into
people's lives for no justified reason.

"I think the media in such desperate, low standing among the public
right now, mainly because they see us as intrusive, this does not
help. i don't think this raises the public's perception of journalism,
in fact I think it damages it."

Hackett said public opinion on marijuana in Canada is at a point where
the passion for the debate is lost. Because of the changing tide, the
media veteran feels giving front page coverage to politicians who
smoke pot is not worth the ink.

"I think that the drug war at the economic level and perhaps at the
level of public opinion, the battle against marijuana has been lost,"
said Hackett. "I think public opinion is moving in that direction so
my sense is that people care a lot less than they used to about
whether or not particular politicians have or have not inhaled. I
think the criteria about covering politicians' private lives ought to
be whether the information revealed informs the voters about the
public performance or reflect their integrity as a holder of public
trust? I don't know if this (marijuana) applies anymore."

Corky Evans has been in politics for more than two decades. When he
was posed the question by the Nelson Daily News earlier this week, the
NDP member said it was the first time he has been asked about it. The
man whose past life has been the subject of many rumours said
politicians should always answer potentially controversial questions
honestly hoping the public will judge them with an open mind.

"Almost everybody has some kind of story that somebody wouldn't like,
legally or morally," Evans said. "But, I think it would be unfortunate
if people didn't have the space to grow up."