Pubdate: Sat, 20 Sep 2008
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2008 The Vancouver Sun
Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Chad Skelton, Vancouver Sun

SECOND NDP CANDIDATE RESIGNS OVER DRUG USE

Kirk Tousaw, the NDP's candidate in Vancouver Quadra, has stepped down
after a video surfaced of him smoking marijuana -- making him the
second B.C. NDP candidate to step down over drug use this week.

The video, recorded in 2005 and still available on Google Video, shows
Tousaw taking part in a competition judging various strains of
marijuana with marijuana activist Marc Emery.

"Every vote counts," Tousaw said at one point in the
video.

On Friday afternoon, the NDP released a statement from Tousaw
resigning his candidacy.

In a phone interview, Tousaw said he decided to step down because he
thinks the video "would be distracting from what are the real issues
in this campaign."

Earlier this week, Dana Larsen, the NDP's candidate in West
Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, resigned after video
surfaced of him driving after using marijuana and hallucinogenic drugs.

Gerry Scott, the NDP's B.C. campaign manager, said both candidates
were vetted by the party but acknowledged the party failed to turn up
everything.

"Obviously, on some of this, it's now of concern," said Scott. "We
didn't delve deeply enough, so there are lessons learned here."

Both Larsen and Tousaw have been prominent supporters of marijuana
legalization in the past.

Larsen is the former editor of Cannabis Culture magazine and was a
co-founder of both the B.C. Marijuana Party and the Marijuana Party of
Canada.

Tousaw, a lawyer, was campaign director for the B.C. Marijuana Party
in 2005 and has done drug-policy work for the B.C. Civil Liberties
Association.

Scott said the party didn't believe either man's advocacy work
disqualified them from runnings.
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MAP posted-by: Steve Heath