Pubdate: Wed., 15 Dec 1999
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 1999 Calgary Herald
Contact:  P.O. Box 2400, Stn. M, Calgary, Alberta T2P 0W8
Fax: (403) 235-7379
Website: http://www.calgaryherald.com/
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Author: Paul Chapman - Wellington

RASTA MP WANTS DOPE

A newly elected Rastafarian MP has caused a political storm in New Zealand
by vowing to carry on smoking marijuana after taking office and demanding
that the drug be made legal.

Nandor Tanczos, 35, joins six fellow MPs of the Green Party in holding the
balance of power in parliament.

Under the country's complex system of proportional representation, the
Greens have gone from having no representation on election night last month
to pushing the Labour-Alliance coalition, led by Helen Clark, into minority
government with 59 of the 120 seats.

The Green Party supports Tanczos's stance on marijuana and its plans have
horrified churchman and community leaders, who point to a new study showing
that more than one in five drivers who died had been smoking marijuana in
the hours before they crashed.  Use of marijuana is wide-spread in New
Zealand but it remains illegal.  Tanczos claims to smoke the drug about once
a week as part of his religion.
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