Pubdate: Fri, 31 Dec 2010
Source: North Shore News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2010 North Shore News
Contact:  http://www.nsnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/311
Author: James Weldon
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/people/Dana+Larsen

LARSEN SEEKS NDP LEADERSHIP

A one-time federal NDP candidate for West Vancouver who was forced 
out of the 2008 election by a drug scandal is running for the 
leadership of the provincial New Democrats.

Dana Larsen, who contested the West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to 
Sky Country riding with John Weston before dropping out, announced 
Wednesday that he will be vying for the spot vacated by former B.C. 
NDP leader Carole James.

Larsen, an outspoken advocate for the legalization of marijuana, 
kicked off his campaign in Vancouver.

Larsen's last run for office was derailed less than a month before 
the 2008 federal election when online videos surfaced apparently 
showing him lighting a mouthful of joints, dropping LSD, doing 
another drug called DMT and then driving.

The same week, it was reported that he had helped found and manage 
the Vancouver Seed Bank, a company that sold banned plants and plant 
materials, including cannabis seeds, opium poppy seeds, peyote cacti 
and coca plant seedlings.

Larsen, a co-founder of the B.C. Marijuana Party, former editor of 
Cannabis Culture Magazine, director of two societies that run 
marijuana dispensaries and the author of a parody book called Hairy 
Pothead, told the North Shore News in an interview Dec. 20 that he 
does not believe that 10-year-old footage of his drug use will hurt 
his chances.

"I think it was probably inevitable that some of that stuff would 
come out," he said. "In retrospect, I should have dealt with that a 
little differently in advance to let people know better and the party 
know better who I am, but I don't anticipate any real problems during 
this leadership run."

The videos surfaced at a bad moment last time, said Larsen.

"It was released to the media in the middle of an election campaign, 
and trying to explain nuanced issues or deal with anything complex 
during a campaign is very difficult," he said. "A leadership campaign 
is different; . . . it's not a compressed, very short time."

Nonetheless, if Larsen is successful in his leadership bid, the 
scandal won't hold him back in the election campaign this time around, he said.

"I think the people of this province are mature and intelligent 
enough to understand that that kind of thing isn't really the only 
way of judging somebody," said Larsen. "The people of the province 
will get to know me and understand that I'm a three-dimensional guy. 
I'm a human being, and I think we've all done silly things in our 
past. I'm quite confident I can deal with those kinds of issues."

If Larsen is elected to the legislature, he'll make the legalization 
of marijuana a priority, he said.

"It's not the only thing I think this province needs (to change), but 
it is something I have a certain amount of knowledge of," said 
Larsen. "It provides a lot of employment and a lot of benefits to the 
people of this province, but it's not taxed or regulated, and that 
causes a lot of problems. . . . I think somebody who's familiar with 
this industry and how it works is the person to bring it above board 
and bring it to the mainstream where it belongs."

Although drug laws are federal, there is a great deal that can be 
done at the provincial level on this front, he said.

"Provinces pay for the prisons; they pay for policing; they pay for 
most of the courts," said Larsen. "The Attorney General of British 
Columbia should say, 'No, we don't want to pay for your drug war; we 
don't want to pay to put marijuana smokers in jail, Mr. Harper.' "

The NDP's leadership election will be held in Vancouver April 17.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom