POT PROPONENT WILL CHALLENGE AG

The president of the B.C. Marijuana Party has set his sights on challenging
Solicitor General Rich Coleman in the May 17 election.

Marc Emery plans to run in Fort Langley-Aldergrove against the B.C. Liberal
MLA because, "Even though the public wants to reform our marijuana laws,
the solicitor general is pushing for draconian U.S.-style drug war tactics
that don't work in the U.S. and won't work for Canadians."

Emery's party, established in 2001, garnered three per cent of the popular
vote in the last election, with a full slate of candidates in the province.

"(We) look forward to growing that total in 2005," Emery said.

Emery, who lives in Vancouver, chose to campaign against Coleman to shed
light on the solicitor general's push for stringent forfeiture laws.

"Criminal defendants are left without enough money to hire good lawyers, so
they are unable to buy the type of justice available to the privileged,"
Emery said.

BCMP platform calls for legalization and regulation, including a licensing
scheme for commercial grow operations.