Pubdate: Thu, 30 Dec 2010
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2010 Times Colonist
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/letters.html
Website: http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Page: A5
Author: Neal Hall, Postmedia News

POT ADVOCATE'S ELIGIBILITY TO BE NDP LEADER DISPUTED

A marijuana legalization advocate said Wednesday he doesn't believe 
his past will interfere with his bid for the leadership of B.C.'s New 
Democratic Party.

"I believe I offer a fresh vision and a real alternative choice in 
this leadership race," Dana Larsen told reporters Wednesday.

Larsen, 39, said he has been an NDP member for seven years. He is the 
first declared candidate for the NDP leadership to succeed Carole James.

But party president Moe Sihota said Larsen is ineligible to run.

"He's currently ineligible because he's not a member," Sihota 
explained Wednesday.

Larsen's party membership expired last November, the party said.

Larsen subsequently issued a press release addressing this.

"I donate regularly to the NDP and have been a member in good 
standing for seven years," Larsen said in the release. "In November, 
I spoke with the B.C. NDP office to renew my membership, change my 
address and make a donation. The donation was processed. However, my 
address change, and now it seems my membership, were not.

"Moe Sihota chose to resolve this clerical error through the media 
rather than contacting me directly," Larsen wrote.

Sihota also pointed out that the federal NDP previously ruled Larsen 
was ineligible to run as a candidate because of past problems.

The provincial NDP rules committee will look at the issue when it 
meets on Jan. 6, the party president said.

Larsen said he wants to see more democracy within the NDP and the 
province, sustainability as a central part of the party platform, a 
$10 minimum wage and a plan to end the failed war on cannabis.

He believes drugs such as cocaine and heroin should be controlled and 
supplied to users by prescription to reduce the amount spent on law 
enforcement, the courts and corrections.

The co-founder of the B.C. Marijuana Party admitted he has no 
endorsements from any MLAs but maintained he is a serious candidate 
for the NDP leadership.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart