I don’t know how we missed this earlier, but the state’s “chief” marijuana advocate has signed up for the governor’s race - and he’s got competition.

Ozark pot supporter Joseph Bickell has entered the race for the state’s highest office, and even if his position doesn’t earn many votes, his pseudonym sure will attract attention.

Bickell’s name will appear on the ballot as Chief Wana Dubie, a moniker he has been using since the early 1990s.

And as much as his name might seem like a gimmick, his appearance shows that, to him at least, it’s not a sobriquet he takes lightly: Tattooed on the chief’s forehead is a crown of thorns featuring a marijuana leaf.

But the chief’s entrance has been viewed by dubious as some, especially in the Libertarian Party, in which Dubie claims kinship.

Missouri Libertarians - hoping for renewed interest from Ron Paul’s insurgent candidacy for president - are concerned that the chief could hurt the party’s credibility.

“That’s not how we want the Libertarian Party to be represented to people who don’t know the party’s platform,” Greg Tlapek, the executive director of Missouri Libertarian Party, told Riverfront Times scribe Keegan Hamilton recently.

Dubie’s latest bid for office - he has also run for state rep - sparked some internal debate among Libertarians who, according to the RFT, discussed rejecting the chief’s filing fee to get on the ballot.

Shunning a candidate for their extreme views, however, might have been tough to do for a party based on personal liberties.

Dubie will indeed appear on the ballot as a Libertarian in August, but he might not be their in November.

Filing to run a few days later was Andrew W. Finkenstadt, of St. Charles, who has previously run for county clerk as a Libertarian.

Though some Libertarians may think that Dubie is just blowing smoke, at the end of the day, a contested primary could actually help the primary.

Chief Wana Dubie: Running for governor