MENDOCINO MARIJUANA MEASURE FAMOUS

International Media Swarm On Initiative To Legalize Personal Growing,
Possession Of Pot, But Residents Ho-Hum

Marijuana advocates are pumping thousands of dollars into a Mendocino
County initiative campaign they believe could set a national precedent for
decriminalizing personal pot use.

Measure G has received international media attention, even though there is
no organized campaign against it.

"Mendocino County residents seem ho-hum about the measure but the national
media is going bonkers," said county supervisor Michael Delbar, a critic of
the measure. "Maybe it's because we've lived with the marijuana problem for
so long. There's nothing new in the arguments pro and con as far as I can see."

Measure G would permit limited cultivation and possession of up to 25
marijuana plants per adult, but would continue to make the transportation
and sale of pot illegal.

It also directs the sheriff and district attorney to make marijuana law
enforcement their lowest priority, and orders county officials to lobby
state and federal agencies for the decriminalization of marijuana nationwide.

"It's unbelievable. I've had more requests for interviews than I ever did
as a congressman, even during the height of the Headwaters Forest
controversy," said former Rep. Dan Hamburg of Ukiah.

Hamburg, who abandoned the Democratic Party after his 1994 defeat and
joined the Green Party, currently is a registered marijuana grower under a
county law enforcement program set up after Proposition 215, the medical
marijuana initiative, was passed by voters statewide.

In Mendocino County, Proposition 215 received 65 percent of the vote and
Measure G supporters including Hamburg are predicting a similar outcome
Tuesday.

"If so, I think passage of Measure G is going to send a message to
Washington, D.C., and beyond," Hamburg said.

While Mendocino County Sheriff Tony Craver and District Attorney Norman
Vroman are sympathetic to the Measure G argument that current marijuana
laws are flawed, both have stressed that they must abide by current state
and federal laws no matter the outcome of Tuesday's election.

Even with the acknowledgment that Measure G has no legal bite, the
possibility of a favorable vote in a rural county that's witnessed costly
government efforts to eradicate the plant is attracting a lot of outside
support.

The San Francisco-based National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws
has donated $1,000 to the campaign and sent in volunteers to help rally
voter support. The New York-based Center for Policy Research kicked in
money to cover the cost of a series of local radio ads.

Hamburg said supporters hope to raise and spend about $10,000 to get the
measure passed.

Despite its reputation as one of the nation's best-known marijuana-growing
regions, Mendocino County now ranks behind Kern County in overall
production, according to state statistics.

Delbar and other Measure G critics think that's a dubious distinction.

What's needed, according to Delbar, is not looser laws encouraging personal
use of marijuana, but a countywide stance against drug use of any kind.

Ukiah resident Robert McIntosh contended that Hamburg and other Measure G
supporters are wrong in advocating decriminalization of marijuana.

"The youth of today do not need these vices. They need mentors to teach
them right from wrong, and that a good education is essential if they want
to make it in the world," he said.

Hamburg countered that Measure G is not an endorsement of marijuana use,
certainly among minors.

"I think it's much more about personal freedom, and the accountability of
government to spend taxpayers' money wisely," he said.

Besides, Hamburg said, "kids aren't fooled by the anti-marijuana arguments.
They know it's virtually harmless."

Hamburg said he hopes passage of Measure G will lead to further changes in
state and federal marijuana laws, and the collapse of a pricing-structure
that he and other supporters believe entices criminal activity surrounding
pot growing.

Hamburg recently reported to local sheriff's deputies the theft of six
marijuana plants he was growing under the county's Proposition 215 program.

With a doctor's approval, individuals can secure local law enforcement
identification as legitimate growers of pot to be used for medicinal
purposes. Hamburg said he grows pot so he can assist in efforts to
revitalize the appetite of his mother, a cancer patient.

"I don't think I'd have had people trespassing on my property and ripping
off my marijuana plants if we had a sane government policy. I'm hoping
Measure G leads to that," Hamburg said.

Delbar, however, is not so sure.

"I think Measure G if passed will end up serving as just another cover for
local dope growers, just as Prop. 215 is doing," he said.