EX-MARIJUANA PARTY LEADER GOES TO NDP

The former leader of the B.C. Marijuana Party will be back on the
hustings in this spring's anticipated federal election under a new
banner.

Dana Larsen, buoyed by federal New Democratic Party leader Jack
Layton's call to legalize marijuana, officially became a member of the
NDP last month and intends to seek the party's nomination in the West
Vancouver-Sunshine Coast riding.

Larsen, who lives in Gibsons, ran in this riding for the federal
Marijuana Party in the 2000 federal election and the B.C. Marijuana
Party in the 2001 provincial vote.

Larsen said his bid for the NDP nomination has already received the
endorsement of Telis Savvaidas, the party's candidate in the riding in
2000, and other key members of the local NDP.

The NDP's nomination meeting is set for March 2004 ahead of an
anticipated spring election call by new Prime Minister Paul Martin.