LARSEN SEEKS NDP LEADERSHIP

A one-time federal NDP candidate for West Vancouver who was forced
out of the 2008 election by a drug scandal is running for the
leadership of the provincial New Democrats.

Dana Larsen, who contested the West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to
Sky Country riding with John Weston before dropping out, announced
Wednesday that he will be vying for the spot vacated by former B.C.
NDP leader Carole James.

Larsen, an outspoken advocate for the legalization of marijuana,
kicked off his campaign in Vancouver.

Larsen's last run for office was derailed less than a month before
the 2008 federal election when online videos surfaced apparently
showing him lighting a mouthful of joints, dropping LSD, doing
another drug called DMT and then driving.

The same week, it was reported that he had helped found and manage
the Vancouver Seed Bank, a company that sold banned plants and plant
materials, including cannabis seeds, opium poppy seeds, peyote cacti
and coca plant seedlings.

Larsen, a co-founder of the B.C. Marijuana Party, former editor of
Cannabis Culture Magazine, director of two societies that run
marijuana dispensaries and the author of a parody book called Hairy
Pothead, told the North Shore News in an interview Dec. 20 that he
does not believe that 10-year-old footage of his drug use will hurt
his chances.

"I think it was probably inevitable that some of that stuff would
come out," he said. "In retrospect, I should have dealt with that a
little differently in advance to let people know better and the party
know better who I am, but I don't anticipate any real problems during
this leadership run."

The videos surfaced at a bad moment last time, said Larsen.

"It was released to the media in the middle of an election campaign,
and trying to explain nuanced issues or deal with anything complex
during a campaign is very difficult," he said. "A leadership campaign
is different; . . . it's not a compressed, very short time."

Nonetheless, if Larsen is successful in his leadership bid, the
scandal won't hold him back in the election campaign this time around, he said.

"I think the people of this province are mature and intelligent
enough to understand that that kind of thing isn't really the only
way of judging somebody," said Larsen. "The people of the province
will get to know me and understand that I'm a three-dimensional guy.
I'm a human being, and I think we've all done silly things in our
past. I'm quite confident I can deal with those kinds of issues."

If Larsen is elected to the legislature, he'll make the legalization
of marijuana a priority, he said.

"It's not the only thing I think this province needs (to change), but
it is something I have a certain amount of knowledge of," said
Larsen. "It provides a lot of employment and a lot of benefits to the
people of this province, but it's not taxed or regulated, and that
causes a lot of problems. . . . I think somebody who's familiar with
this industry and how it works is the person to bring it above board
and bring it to the mainstream where it belongs."

Although drug laws are federal, there is a great deal that can be
done at the provincial level on this front, he said.

"Provinces pay for the prisons; they pay for policing; they pay for
most of the courts," said Larsen. "The Attorney General of British
Columbia should say, 'No, we don't want to pay for your drug war; we
don't want to pay to put marijuana smokers in jail, Mr. Harper.' "

The NDP's leadership election will be held in Vancouver April 17.