Facing increasing scrutiny over his extensive connections to marijuana and other drugs, federal West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country NDP candidate Dana Larsen has pulled out of the election this week. "I do not want anything to distract from the important work of your New Democrats," stated Larsen in a news release Wednesday (Sept. 17). Now NDP riding association president Bill Forst is primed to take Larsen's place. "West Vancouver Sunshine Coast Sea to Sky NDP will hold an emergency candidate nomination meeting on Saturday (Sept. 20) in Sechelt, exact location TBA [to be announced]," stated Forst in an email to the Coast Reporter newspaper Thursday (Sept. 18). "I will be placing my name for nomination. [There are] no other candidates as of this evening."Larsen resigned shortly after The Globe and Mail asked him about his involvement with the Vancouver Seed Bank, which sells potentially cocaine-producing Peruvian coca seedlings. Larsen, who helped set up and managed the Seed Bank but is no longer employed there, asserts that coca plants are used in South America as a mild stimulant, and it is virtually impossible to produce cocaine unless grown on a very large scale. Larsen co-founded the B.C. Marijuana Party in 2002, and once hosted an episode of Pot TV on a website run by so-called "Drug Czar" Marc Emery in which he smoked marijuana and drove a vehicle, and took LSD. Larsen is also a founding editor of Cannabis Culture Magazine and the author of the novel Hairy Pothead and the Marijuana Stone.Larsen told The Chief on Monday (Sept. 15) that he didn't believe his high-profile involvement in marijuana advocacy would undermine his campaign. "I think people are finding it a refreshing change of pace that someone is able to talk openly about that and it is an important issue," he said.Liberal representative Ian Sutherland said he respected Larsen for resigning, as opposed to actions that another candidate undertook when facing controversy."I think it's interesting that he took responsibility for his actions and offered to resign, and you contrast that with somebody else running in this race." said Sutherland. "I think it speaks volumes for Dana's character that he did that."Sutherland said he hoped that the voters who traditionally supported the NDP would now look to him. "It's one of those races that's going to be very important for how it goes nationally," he said. "One of the ways to prevent a Tory government is to make sure that a lot of Liberals get a chance to get into Ottawa."- With files from Ian Jacques, Coast Reporter
