POT ADVOCATE'S ELIGIBILITY TO BE NDP LEADER DISPUTED

A marijuana legalization advocate said Wednesday he doesn't believe
his past will interfere with his bid for the leadership of B.C.'s New
Democratic Party.

"I believe I offer a fresh vision and a real alternative choice in
this leadership race," Dana Larsen told reporters Wednesday.

Larsen, 39, said he has been an NDP member for seven years. He is the
first declared candidate for the NDP leadership to succeed Carole James.

But party president Moe Sihota said Larsen is ineligible to run.

"He's currently ineligible because he's not a member," Sihota
explained Wednesday.

Larsen's party membership expired last November, the party said.

Larsen subsequently issued a press release addressing this.

"I donate regularly to the NDP and have been a member in good
standing for seven years," Larsen said in the release. "In November,
I spoke with the B.C. NDP office to renew my membership, change my
address and make a donation. The donation was processed. However, my
address change, and now it seems my membership, were not.

"Moe Sihota chose to resolve this clerical error through the media
rather than contacting me directly," Larsen wrote.

Sihota also pointed out that the federal NDP previously ruled Larsen
was ineligible to run as a candidate because of past problems.

The provincial NDP rules committee will look at the issue when it
meets on Jan. 6, the party president said.

Larsen said he wants to see more democracy within the NDP and the
province, sustainability as a central part of the party platform, a
$10 minimum wage and a plan to end the failed war on cannabis.

He believes drugs such as cocaine and heroin should be controlled and
supplied to users by prescription to reduce the amount spent on law
enforcement, the courts and corrections.

The co-founder of the B.C. Marijuana Party admitted he has no
endorsements from any MLAs but maintained he is a serious candidate
for the NDP leadership.