POTHEADS TAKE TORIES TO COURT

OTTAWA -- Two pot-puffing "churchmen" are going to court after their bid
for the Tory leadership went up in smoke.

Rev. Brother Michael Baldasaro, the leader of a church that holds pot as
its high sacrament, said he and Rev. Brother Walter Tucker have applied for
a judicial review by the Federal Court of the Tories' $30,000 deposit
requirement for all leadership candidates.

"The (leadership selection) process, it's undemocratic and it's unfair,"
Baldasaro said yesterday.

The men have received a "donation" from former Tory leadership candidate
John Long to cover costs.

Baldasaro, who lives on a disability pension resulting from a head injury,
said the main plank of his platform is the legalization of marijuana and
the cancellation of all pot-related criminal charges.

Copyright (c) 1998, Canoe Limited Partnership.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski