Pubdate: Fri, 27 Apr 2001
Source: Campbell River Mirror (CN BC)
Box 459 104-250 Dogwood St., Campbell River, B.C. V9W 2X9
Fax: 250-287-3238
Website: http://campbellrivermirror.com
Contact:  Derrick Penner

NORTH ISLAND MARIJUANA CANDIDATE STEPS FORWARD

A Holberg housewife and grandmother has volunteered to take the Marijuana 
Party's nomination for the North Island in the upcoming provincial election.

Noreen Evers, 45, said it was a chance encounter with a Nanaimo-area 
candidate that encouraged her to give politics a go. At first Evers 
dismissed him as "another pot-head," but after a brief conversation, 
discovered she had a lot in common with the party's platform.

"It turns out I agree with a lot of the issues," Evers said.

She agrees with the Marijuana Party's cornerstone premises to legalize - 
licence and tax - marijuana and oppose gun registration legislation.

However, Evers added that she was intrigued by some of the party's other 
positions.

She likes its provision to make ballot initiatives - a way of letting 
citizens initiate legislation by petitioning for public votes - easier.

"I've always been leery of politicians," Evers said. "I don't believe they 
should be making promises they can't keep, and politicians should be liable 
for breach of promise."

Another Marijuana Party position is to institute restorative justice in the 
legal system. Evers said the concept was pioneered while she lived in the 
Comox Valley and she likes it.

The promise to include health care providers, and alternative care 
providers, in creating a preventative theory for health care is something 
the North Island needs.

She also believes the North Island is ready for the Marijuana proposal for 
a provincial drug policy that advocates harm reduction: decriminalization 
of marijuana, allowing prescriptions for heroin and cocaine and creating 
safe injection sites for drug users.

"It's fairly libertarian, but what we have in place now, and have had for 
years and years isn't working," Evers said. "(Problems are) getting worse 
and worse."
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