Marijuana party leadership in haze

Brian Taylor has handed over the reins as the leader of the B.C. Marijuana
Party, though at this point there's no one around to grab them.

From his home in Grand Forks, he told the Gazette last week that he was not
happy with the direction party president Marc Emery wants to take the
group. Taylor's resignation was effective as of June 6.

One of the main sticking points is Emery's wish to set up a chain of
compassion clubs throughout the province using the party as a vehicle, even
without the legal avenue to do so. Taylor also said Emery was running the
party in an authoritarian manner, though he concedes that the president has
done the majority of the legwork and provided the money to get the party
off the ground.

Taylor's view is that the party should work on medicinal marijuana issues
within the legislative system, as opposed to the court system. He points
to the support from voters as evidence of this.

"They voted for a different way of doing government," he said.

When asked about his own history of civil disobedience, such as his
unauthorized growing of hemp, Taylor responded that this action he took
simply on his own behalf, not on the behalf of a group such as a political
party.

As it stands, Emery plans to open up a half dozen locations handling the
distribution of medicinal marijuana by the fall. By the end of 2002, he is
hoping to have at least 25 established.

"The party's job is to legalize marijuana in any way possible," he said
Friday afternoon. "It's certainly consistent with our mandate."

The party president says there are no plans to replace Taylor as leader for
the meantime, as the party's time will be spent on setting up the clubs,
although Emery did leave open the possibility of Taylor returning to the
fold.

"Brian would always be welcome back," he said.

At this point Taylor appears headed in a different direction, as he and
some 15 to 20 other Marijuana candidates have plans to establish a new
party in the near future with a platform similar to the B.C. Marijuana
Party's.


Newshawk: Herb
Pubdate: June 13, 2001
Source: Grand Forks Gazette (CN BC)
Front page
Copyright: 2001 Sterling Newspapers
Contact: edit_gfgazette@yahoo.com
Address: Box 700, 7330 2nd St., Grand Forks, B.C. V0H 1H0
Fax: 1-250-442-3336
Author: Michael Chouinard