IT'S MY PARTY

Since 2004 there has been a huge rise in the number of parties
registered with the Electoral Commission. So what are these aspiring
politicians standing for? Steve Boggan asks six candidates in
Thursday's local elections why they are going it alone

Carl Wagner, 47

He is contesting the Avenues ward in Hull for the Legalise Cannabis Alliance.

The main reason for me standing is to oppose the increasing appetite
for jailing people for using cannabis. There is no rationale for it.
To pretend that most people who use cannabis don't benefit and are
harmed by it is just nonsense.

I have six children and I find it impossible to explain the reasoning
behind Britain's drug policies. Only the other day, a supermarket in
Hull was fined UKP80 for selling alcohol to children, but an old
woman was fined UKP400 for growing cannabis plants for medicinal purposes.

To argue that cannabis laws are in place to safeguard children is
disingenuous. A recent survey for the local paper in Hull showed that
40% of 14- and 15-year-olds smoke cannabis. But when asked how much
they were paying for an ounce, respondents said UKP40 or less. The
price for good herbal cannabis should be UKP120 an ounce. That means
that kids on the streets are being given soap bar, a dangerous, cheap
and nasty resin often polluted with coffee, glue or plastics. So
society is letting kids smoke that stuff while it turns a blind eye
to it. Until this injustice is resolved and I can explain cannabis
policy properly to my children, I'll keep on campaigning. When you
stand for a single issue, you have a much better chance of getting
your message across.

Voters today believe that politicians are inherently corrupt. That is
why, increasingly, they are putting people like us first. They feel
they can trust us. Something is happening to our electoral system.
Dare I call it a revolution?