View larger image Green Party Leader Elizabeth May holds up a copy of her election platform during a news conference in Halifax on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008. The Green party is promising tax breaks for low-income earners and for industries that cut carbon emissions. (Mike Dembeck / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

May says she's never smoked pot, then apologizes

Updated Wed. Sep. 17 2008 4:50 PM ET

The Canadian Press

Halifax -- Green Leader Elizabeth May says she has never smoked pot, and she's `not a big fan' of marijuana use.

May, in Halifax to release her party's platform, was asked about a Green policy that calls for the decriminalization of Canada's marijuana laws.

She says the existing legislation criminalizes 'decent, law-abiding Canadians' while helping sustain a vast network of organized crime.

May says the criminal justice system should instead focus on `real crimes,' and a big chunk of the criminal underworld could be eliminated by letting people legally grow their own weed.

She volunteered the revelation about not smoking up, saying she was aware most politicians are eventually asked whether they have indulged.

Then, as if to acknowledge her party's laid-back, hippie image, she said: 'I apologize.'

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