GREEN PARTY DISAVOWS 'GRASS'-ROOTS CANDIDATE

Marijuana Advocate Adler Turns Nonpartisan In His Bid For Governor

HILO -- In a strongly worded letter, the Green Party of Hawaii has rejected
Big Island marijuana legalization advocate Jonathan Adler as a candidate for
governor.

Adler responded, "Politics sucks."

He announced he will run for governor as a nonpartisan, the route he
announced he would take last year before his would-be switch to the Greens.

The Green action was the unanimous decision of all party members polled,
statewide Green Co-chairpersons Julie Leialoha and Ira Rohter informed Adler
in a Jan. 24 letter which they said was confidential but which Adler, 49,
made public yesterday.

"You lack a genuine commitment to the values of the Green Party of Hawaii,"
Leialoha and Rohter wrote.

They told Adler he lacks the ability to convey his positions effectively, is
disruptive, is likely to alienate people and is unrealistic.

"Your primary goal is self-promotion, rather than the greater good," they
concluded.

Adler responded: "The Greens were not the answer. They are an island unto
themselves."

In his announcement of his nonpartisan campaign for governor, he stated,
"Adler is no joke!"

He proposed "medical tourism," people coming to Hawaii to use medical
marijuana.

A verdict is pending in the nonjury trial of Adler on possession of 89
marijuana plants in 1998, and another trial is pending for his alleged
possession of 55 plants in 1999.

Adler says he has medical and religious rights to use marijuana.