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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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CN NF: Marijuana Party Wants Locals To Catch The Buzz
ccguide Wednesday 04 Oct 2000 Pubdate: Tue, 03 Oct 2000 Source: Telegram, The (CN NF) Website: http://www.thetelegram.com/ Contact: Copyright: 2000 The Telegram Address: Box 5970, St. John's, Nfld. A1C 5X7 Author: Tracy Barron MARIJUANA PARTY WANTS LOCALS TO CATCH THE BUZZ Marc-Boris St. Maurice's vision of the country is one where marijuana is tolerated. St. Maurice, the 31-year-old leader of the Montreal-based Marijuana Party, wants to give every Canadian the opportunity to vote for the legalization of marijuana. To that end, St. Maurice has taken a leave of absence from his Montreal band, Grimskunk, and he's looking for candidates to carry his banner in the next federal election. That includes Newfoundland, which, until Monday, he thought was part of the Maritimes. St. Maurice's political ambitions have grown out of several court appearances over the past decade for marijuana possession. "I was personally saddened and disgusted when I was turned into a criminal for simple possession," said St. Maurice in a telephone interview from Montreal. It was in a law office nearly a decade ago that the seeds were first planted for the Marijuana Party's provincial predessor, Bloc Pot. St. Maurice wanted to know how to get the permits for pro-marijuana demonstrations. "He said if you want to change the law, get elected and change the law," St. Maurice said. "I never really forgotten that day or that comment." St. Maurice is due in court next month on a charge of trafficking at the Montreal Compassion Club, an organization that provides marijuana to people who have illnesses. So far, the party has 44 candidates interested in running in the federal election, only six short of the number needed to be a registered party. The fact that the $1,000-deposit necessary to be a candidate in a federal election is now 100 per cent refundable will help round out the slate, St. Maurice said. "We consider that the edge we need so that we can actually pull it off," he said. "If we were looking at losing all that money, I don't think you'd find as much enthusiam to run." The party's platform is simply to tolerate and somehow administrate all uses of cannabis, especially for medicinal purposes. But St. Maurice's philosophy, and that of his party, is that the inaccessibility of medicinal marijuana is only a small part of a larger issue, which is total prohibition. "If recreational use was tolerated and legalized, then people who wanted to use it for medical reasons could more than easily get it," he said. He compares it to red wine, which has been found to have certain health benefits when used in moderation. "We haven't found Health Canada suddenly coming out with some medicinal red wine, which would probably be way more expensive and not taste that good," he said. But it is the medicinal aspect that urgently needs to be addressed for the people who are currently sick and dying, St. Maurice said. "Their health is important and has to be addressed right now," he said. The Marijuana Party doesn't need to have weight with Ottawa if the fringe party carries weight with the voters, St. Maurice said. "Our party wants to carry weight with the population and that's how democracy is supposed to be," he said. Ottawa will have to take note of any party - or issue - that is undermining their support, St. Maurice said. The party ran candidates in the two recent byelections that sent Tory Leader Joe Clark and Canadian Alliance Leader Stockwell Day to the House of Commons, receiving 2.6 per cent and 1.6 per cent of the vote respectively. "This is probably the first time everyone in Canada has a direct access to get involved, to make some sort of concrete measure to help end the prohibition of Canada," St. Maurice said of the option now before Canadian voters. "It doesn't cost any money and no one is looking over your shoulder, so it's definitely the best time to support this." St. Maurice ran against Day. He's thinking of recruiting the P.E.I. pie thrower, who got a direct hit on Prime Minister Jean Chretien during the summer, to run in the next federal election. - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck
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