CANDIDATE IN THE RUNNING TO KEEP MARIJUANA TALKS HONEST

Not legalizing marijuana is costing billions, says the Marijuana Party
candidate in the Shuswap riding, and that's why he's running for office.

"I'm running to keep the discussion about pot honest," says candidate
Chris Emery, running for a second consecutive time in this riding.

"I want the message to get out, not just to the general public, but to
our next representative in the legislature. Re-legalize it - it used
to be legal, we need to regulate and tax it. Right now we spend
billions chasing folks like me around, yet we leave billions of tax
dollars on the table. That's a double whammy. It's the economics."

Emery says the fact that marijuana is illegal fuels
gangs.

"It's the lifeblood of gangs and the violence that it brings on. They
ended alcohol prohibition and with it went bathtub gin, Al Capone and
the Purple Gang."

Emery has been a Sorrento resident since 1995 and works full-time as
an instrument electrical control systems technologist.

Emery says he stepped down after eight years on the executive of the
South Shuswap Chamber of Commerce and two years as president in order
to run.

He said after writing a couple of newspaper articles on pot
prohibition and receiving positive feedback, he decided in 2005 to
enter the political arena.