NDP SHOCKED POT ACTIVISTS SMOKE THE STUFF

Federal New Democrats are left looking like spineless wimps after last
week's bizarre handling of a marijuana fuss.

The resignations of two of their candidates were hastily arranged
after vile, despicable acts from their pasts caught up to them.

(Make sure you're sitting down before you continue reading. Because
this is horrifying stuff.)

The two gents in question smoked marijuana!

And it's on YouTube!

Something smells about both these resignations and it's not just the
odour of B.C. Bud. Dana Larsen was running as a New Democrat in West
Vancouver-Sunshine Coast. Kirk Tousaw was running in Vancouver Quadra.

By last Friday both of them had decided to resign from the
race.

Tousaw said he made the difficult decision because of the likelihood
that his past involvement in drug reforms might take the focus away
from the issues that matter most to Canadians.

Larsen did the same thing earlier, saying he was quitting the race so
"the Conservative Spin Machine" wouldn't manipulate his past
activities into something that would harm the NDP campaign.

Candidates occasionally step down abruptly after some embarrassment
from their past comes to light. And it's even more routine for the
parties to request those resignations, which is likely what happened
in these cases.

But these two gents are among the most ardent pro-pot advocates in
B.C. and have been for years. Where exactly is the scandal in learning
that leading dope activists actually smoke dope?

Larsen's official biography on the NDP website up until recently noted
he is the former editor of Cannabis Culture magazine. "He built it
into one of Canada's most successful magazines, with a print run
approaching 100,000 copies."

It goes on to hail him as co-founder of the B.C. Marijuana
Party.

Tousaw is also a former Marijuana Party member. In fact, he's the
former campaign director.

Gee, you'd think that might have been a clue that they smoke
dope.

The NDP knew exactly who these two candidates were when they welcomed
them aboard. They knew exactly what they were getting into. But at the
first sign of controversy, everyone bailed out. It's a bad precedent
and it's based on an odd premise. It turns out the specific problem
isn't their marijuana track record. It's the YouTube and PotTV videos
of them toking up. One is doing so while driving, and apparently using
other drugs.

That somehow changes everything. It means the drug use isn't in the
past. It's right here in the now. There's no such thing as ancient
history. It's all streaming live on the Internet, which somehow
escaped the party's notice.

This "scandal" would have lasted about 15 minutes if the federal NDP
had the courage of its convictions. It's not like they're going to
form government. Surely there's room in an election campaign for a pot
point of view.

Just So You Know: The rise and fall of NDP candidate Julian West was
another example of
a flip-flop in the party. His bout of spontaneous nudity 12 years ago
was acknowledged
and discussed within the party when he stepped forward to become a candidate in
Saanich-Gulf Islands.

When it came to light again -- as expected -- he issued a statement
and yet another apology. "On a number of occasions throughout the
weekend I removed my clothes in the presence of minors," he said.
"Beyond that, nothing inappropriate occurred."

It's one of the more arresting quotes from this campaign so far. It
was supposed to end the matter. Yesterday, however, he stood down.

To provide some context, it's worth noting he was a Green party member
at the time. And the Greens back then were far from the buttoned-down
purported contenders they are today.

West's romp occurred at a time when the party had just emerged from a
period when it was run -- how to put this gently? -- by a collection
of wingnuts.

They once had a Green meeting at a Cobble Hill barn where a "vibes
sensor" was one of the official table officers. They spent a day and a
half arguing until it was decreed half the people there should shut
their eyes and be led around the barn by the other half, as a
trust-building exercise. (Sounds like a budget lockup.)

A Green acquaintance of mine recalled another meeting in the Kootenays
where the chairwoman opened the meeting by reading all her
astrological prophecies for the coming year.

By Green standards of the time, spontaneous nudity sounds tame. But
the NDP and its candidates in 2008 will seize up over just about
anything. The trouble is that they agree to let all this stuff go by
during the screening process, then have second thoughts and panic at
the first sign of controversy.