WV RIDING COULD GO TO POT

Federal Ndp Candidate Thinks Marijuana Should Be Legal

The federal NDP candidate for West Vancouver says he's not worried
that a pot-laced parody of Harry Potter he wrote will cost him votes
- -- on the contrary, Dana Larsen says he's hoping his
marijuana-focused novel will help educate the public and entertain
people who agree with him that pot should be legal.

"I think the majority of people in B.C. support ending the war on
drugs," said Larsen. "If anything, it might attract people."

Larsen, 36, was nominated by acclamation earlier this year as the
federal NDP candidate in the West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea-to-Sky
riding. Larsen, who lives on the Sunshine Coast, joined the party in
2003 after previously being active in the Marijuana Party. A
marijuana activist, Larsen was also editor of Cannabis Culture
magazine for many years.

Most recently, however, Larsen has turned his literary efforts to a
full-length parody of author J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books -- a
version that's liberally cloaked in tell-tale blue smoke that has
nothing to do with conventional wizardry.

Hairy Pothead and the Marijuana Stone features a character who think
he is an ordinary boy -- until he is rescued by a bike, gets a glass
bong, lives in Cannabis Castle and attends Hempwards School of
Herbcraft and Weedery. And that's just the beginning.

An initial print run of 30,000 copies are being printed in magazine
format by Cannabis Culture magazine and will be for sale this month
in the magazine section of many bookstores.

"I'm hoping it's popular enough that we have to make some reprints,"
said Larsen.

The author, who counts himself has an avid Harry Potter fan, said
he's not concerned about any legal troubles stemming from the parody.
Many other people have written take-offs on the books and the
characters in Rowling's novels and posted them online, said Larsen.

"I don't think anybody will pick up my book and think it's the next
instalment of Harry Potter."

Larsen, whose day job is working at the Vancouver Seed Bank -- which
sells marijuana seeds through the mail -- said he didn't check with
anyone from the NDP before going public with Hairy Pothead but he
doesn't think the book will cost him politically.

"I didn't send Jack Layton an e-mail," he said. ". . . they knew I
was a marijuana activist when they took me on as a candidate."