TURIA PLEDGES DOPE SUPPORT

The Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party might reconsider its plans to contest
the Te Tai Hauauru by-election after a pledge from Labour defector Tariana
Turia to support the decriminalisation of cannabis.

Mrs Turia made the pledge after ALCP president Michael Appleby said his
party would stand in the by-election unless Mrs Turia backed the
legalisation of cannabis.

A change of mind by the ALCP could spare taxpayers some of the $500,000
cost of a by-election that none of the parties represented in Parliament
intend to contest.

But it may not be till June 10 that the Electoral Office knows whether Mrs
Turia has a challenger. That is the last day for nominations.

Mr Appleby, whose party got just 454 of the almost 15,000 party votes cast
in the electorate in 2002, said he was encouraged by Mrs Turia's statement
but whether the party contested the seat was a matter for its management
committee.

His party would not be influenced by the cost of a by-election. Half a
million dollars was "peanuts" compared to the $80 million cost of enforcing
cannabis laws, he said.

Mrs Turia had refused on Monday to commit her new Maori party to a position
on cannabis because the party's policies had not been formed.

But she said yesterday that she had always supported the decriminalisation
of cannabis use and would continue to advocate for it.