NDP HAVE HIGH HOPES FOR MARIJUANA ADVOCATE

Both before and after the nomination meeting that made her the NDP
candidate, Alison Myrden was vomiting in the parking lot.

She had also been smoking marijuana, and most definitely inhaling.

In fact, she's likely the only candidate of the four nominated to run
in Oakville that smokes 12 grams of pot per day. Only if the
forever-on-the-fringe Marijuana Party of Canada decides to run a
candidate here will Myrden have competition for that.

But before you begin thinking that Myrden is a slacker pot head with
nothing better to do, you need to get to know her.

Myrden, 40, has chronic progressive multiple sclerosis and Tic
Douloureux, a chronic facial pain, and the discomfort cannot be dulled
by the 32 pills and between 600 and 2000 milligrams of morphine she
takes to make it through every day.

So she uses pot, which the government allows her to do. Unfortunately,
the government won't provide Myrden with the type of pot she needs, so
she continues to get her supply from "the street."

She claims that the federal government's stash has between 5.1 and
10.1 percent THC. The strain Myrden considers ideal has 28 percent
THC. Because of that, she has to spend about $1,200 per month on pot
from dealers, instead of from the government's marijuana farms.

Not only can the government not offer the strain Myrden requires, but
neither, in many cases, can her dealers. Without the proper type of
pot, the pain is immense, and she vomits frequently and gets "the
shakes," which are often so bad she has to use her wheelchair or her
walker.

Her demand that the government offer marijuana that will actually help
patients is the main reason she is running. Her candidacy is not her
only attempt to get her message out, though. She also runs the web
site www.themarijuanamission.com, took part in last weekend's Million
Marijuana March in Toronto, is a member of Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition and works with the Compassion Club, "Canada's largest
medical marijuana's buyers' club," according to the web site.

A Queen Elizabeth Park High School and Sheridan College graduate,
Myrden now lives in Burlington. Back in March, she tried
unsuccessfully to win the nomination to run as Burlington's NDP candidate.

Beyond the NDP view of medicinal marijuana, Myrden was impressed by
party leader Jack Layton, and the party's advocacy of same-sex
marriage and a clean, sustainable environment.

Like the rest of the party members, she thinks she can win the
riding.

"Look at the numbers in the polls," she said following her nomination
speech. "Things are changing. People want change."

When asked about past-president Gary Shillington's recent comments to
the Oakville Beaver that the NDP wouldn't be able to win Oakville even
if they ran Jesus Christ and one of the other parties ran Charles
Manson, Myrden remained confident.

"I think it can change, as long as people know who they're voting
for."

The Oakville riding association has dwindled away to only 90 members,
but during a time of rejuvenation for the entire party, the Oakville
chapter thinks it can harness the same energy and momentum.

"There has never been a greater chance for an Oakville NDP candidate
to win," said Sean Cain, who ran as an NDP candidate in the 1999
provincial election.

Tina Agrell, president of the Oakville NDP riding association, was
even more assuring when she told the audience, "not only will we be in
this election, we will win it."

That is a lofty goal, especially considering that in the 42 elections
and by-elections in Oakville (including north Oakville in the Halton
riding, which was created in 1996), the NDP and their predecessor the
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation have never won. Their most
successful attempt was in 1965, when Murray Kernighan secured 20
percent of the vote. In the most recent federal election, NDP
candidate Willie Lambert received only 2.8 percent of the votes.

Though history is not on their side, with Jack Layton as their leader,
and with the latest polls putting them at 20 percent nationwide, the
members believe anything is possible.

"Our political opposition, for a five week period during the campaign,
they will pretend to be NDPers," said Cain. "They will pretend to care
about health care, they will pretend to care about education, they
will pretend to care about the environment...We know the real people
who are going to protect these issues."