CANDIDATE TO RUN ON MARIJUANA PLATFORM

RICHMOND - The Libertarian Party's candidate for lieutenant governor
wants the 2001 election to be a "reeferendum" on Virginia's marijuana
laws.

Gary Reams, a Fairfax County telecommunications administrator, announced
his candidacy Tuesday and filed 19,000 petition signatures with the
state Board of Elections to get his name on the ballot.

"The Reams reeferendum is a chance for the voters of Virginia to tell
their elected representatives that the marijuana laws have gone too far
and must be reformed," said Reams, who supports legalization of the
drug.

Reams, 45, will join gubernatorial candidate William Redpath of Fairfax
County on the Libertarian ticket in the November election. Redpath, who
filed his petitions Monday, has called Virginia politics "uncompetitive
and boring" and has called for electoral reforms and cuts in government
spending.

The party will not field a candidate for attorney general.

In a sparsely attended news conference at the Capitol, Reams expressed
little interest in actually serving as lieutenant governor, a largely
ceremonial office that requires little more than presiding over the
state Senate. Instead, Reams characterized his candidacy as a vehicle
for voters to voice their support for overhauling the state's marijuana
laws without affecting "other issues important to the commonwealth."

"This allows the voters to vote their consciences on this issue with
very low risk," Reams said. "This campaign is not proposing specific
legislation at the state or federal level, but we are telling our
representatives that pot prohibition is not working and we are demanding
reform."

Reams has sought public office before, losing badly to U.S. Rep. Frank
Wolf, R-Fairfax County, in a 1996 congressional race.


Newshawk: Michael Krawitz http://reamsreeferendum.com/
Pubdate: Wed, 13 Jun 2001
Source: Roanoke Times (VA)
Copyright: 2001 Roanoke Times
Contact: karent@roanoke.com
Website: http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/368
Author: Michael Sluss