Pubdate: Tue, 06 Dec 2005 Source: Maple Ridge Times (CN BC) Copyright: 2005 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc Contact: http://www.mrtimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1372 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) POT CANDIDATE SAYS HE'S NEVER SMOKED DRUG A Marijuana Party candidate has entered the local federal race - but he has never smoked marijuana. Dan Banov, a 30-year Maple Ridge resident, said he wants to represent the Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge-Mission riding in Ottawa because he's tired of crime and thinks he can do something to curb it. Just this week Banov was a victim of crime. The 58-year-old husband and father, who owns a business in Hope, said he has to spend $1,000 to replace a window "because somebody smashed it in to steal a couple of bottles of booze." These crimes, he added, don't have to be routine. "The philosophies of the Marijuana Party make a lot of sense," he said on Monday. "The prohibition of drugs has not solved any problems with regards to crime." It is easier, he said, "for an elementary student to buy marijuana and other drugs than it is for them to buy cigarettes in a store," all because tobacco has been legalized and regulated. "That's my No. 1 concern." Banov figures he can represent the platform of the Marijuana Party, even without having toked. "It's just important to be able to stand up for the things that you believe in." And now is the time for the fringe party to assert itself in Ottawa, he concluded. "I think a lot of people are pretty fed up with the way the mainline parties are running." Independent and alternative candidates, he said mentioning the late Surrey-North MP Chuck Cadman, have always had more pull in the House than mainstream MPs, Banov maintained. "They make a much bigger impact on the direction of politics." In Banov's discussions with voters, he said many are considering going a different route when it comes to casting their vote on Jan. 23. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman