Pubdate: Thu, 12 May 2005
Source: Xtra West (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Pink Triangle Press
Contact:  http://www.xtra.ca/site/toronto2/html/city.shtm
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2648
Author: Diane Claveau
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

BEYOND THE CANNABIS COMMUNITY

Queer Candidate -- Marijuana Party Candidates Say Legalization Will Benefit 
Everyone

John Gordon and Mark Gueffroy are the face of queer in the cannabis 
community, united in the decades-old struggle for the legalization of 
marijuana.

Together, they're running for the BC Marijuana Party in the upcoming 
provincial election; Gordon in Vancouver-Kensington and Gueffroy in 
Vancouver-Langara.

Gordon, 41, is a long-standing activist in the pot community and a medical 
marijuana user. Gueffroy is 20 years his junior and a non-cannabis user. 
They stand in stark contrast to each other, separated by two generations of 
age and politics.

"I don't use," Gueffroy grins, anticipating the puzzled expressions that 
normally greet this admission. "It seems pretty strange to have a person 
that doesn't smoke pot running for the BCMP, but what I do have is a strong 
point of view of the positives that will result from legalization and the 
negative effects of prohibition.

"The use of crystal meth put me into the hospital three times and almost 
killed me," the 21-year-old continues matter-of-factly. "I have yet to hear 
of an individual that's ended up in the hospital from the use of marijuana.

"At the very least we're wasting government resources, at most we're 
violating people's civil rights."

This is Gueffroy's first run at public office.

It is the second election bid for Gordon, a veteran pot crusader and 
well-known member of the Pot-arazzi. He writes a column for Cannabis 
Culture Magazine and is a familiar face on PotTV. His viewers and readers 
know him as Flash Gordon. He's often found at BCMP headquarters on the Pot 
Block (the 300-block of East Hastings St).

"I'm running again because my riding has social problems that are a direct 
result of prohibition," Gordon's tone is serious. "I see the prostitution, 
the crack, the violence. I've seen people beaten outside my home by gang 
members. All the problems have moved into our Kingsway neighbourhood 
because of the crackdown in the Downtown Eastside. Over the past four 
years, I've seen it go downhill."

Both men say their concerns stretch beyond the cannabis community. 
Legalizing marijuana will benefit all of society, they maintain.

"It may appear to be a one-issue thing but the ramifications of repealing 
prohibition will resolve a plethora of social ills," Gordon asserts. 
"Solving the problem of prohibition is not an isolated thing."

He notes that the money raised by taxing the production and distribution of 
marijuana in BC could raise revenue to improve health care, fund programs 
against hate, better fund AIDS programs and housing programs, and support 
social services in general.

He points out that cannabis prohibition is in a current state of flux in 
this country. "Right now we're tinkering with the laws to make it so that 
demand is allowed--you're allowed to possess marijuana--but the supply 
remains illegal. The supply continues to be in the hands of those who are 
willing to take the risk, and the higher the penalties get the only the 
people who will be willing to take the risk are the people who are involved 
already in organized crime."

Gordon would rather see the income from the existing cannabis cottage 
industry in this province put into the hands of BC citizens than criminals. 
"Busting Ma and Pa grow-ops one after another is a waste of police 
resources and money. Simple regulation and basic taxation could reduce 
crime in so many ways.

"I'm not talking about sin tax," he qualifies. "I'm talking about basic PST 
and GST, the kind you pay on your chocolate bars or Coca Cola." Gordon 
insists this is not a pipe dream. "This money exists now," he says.

"The war on drugs is costing society a great deal for no reason. It's a 
self-perpetuating job-creation program for law enforcement. Every time 
police make a bust they can make it sound like it's more of a problem and 
ask for more money to fight it," Gordon says. "It's one of those kinds of 
problems that perpetuates itself."

Gueffroy easily sums up the school of thought in the cannabis community: "I 
believe prohibition is a waste of government resources, a waste of 
enforcement resources, and a waste of taxpayers' money."

So what's stopping society from legalizing pot? Gueffroy wants to know. "It 
was proven 50 years ago when they legalized alcohol that it took away a 
black market. Why can't they just put a tax on cannabis?"

He believes that what it comes down to is "the government doesn't represent 
the interests of the people anymore."
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman