MENDOCINO MAKING DRUG POLICY STATEMENT

Note: Because of state and federal laws, a Mendocino initiative isn't
likely to increase the marijuana harvest. But it could be a
declaration of priorities.

They call it Mendo Mellow--quite rightly.

It's the brand name of sorts for Mendocino County's leading cash
crop--marijuana. But it might just as well sum up the way of life in
this vast expanse of redwood forests and picture-postcard towns in
the great green north of California.

This is a live-and-let-live kind of place. With 84,000 residents
spread over an area nearly the size of Los Angeles County, there's
plenty of room for everyone's lifestyles and viewpoints.

Politics here is as wide open as the landscape, and people are often
as colorful as the autumn leaves now turning in the vineyards. The
Libertarian district attorney, for instance, was elected despite
having served prison time for misdemeanor tax evasion, and was backed
by both the National Rifle Assn. and the Green Party.

So it seems logical that a place where marijuana and unconventional
people thrive appears likely to become the first in the country to
allow the growing of marijuana for personal use. Measure G, an
initiative on Tuesday's ballot, would allow residents to grow as many
as 25 plants, though selling and transporting marijuana would still
be crimes.

The initiative qualified for the ballot with 5,900 signatures, twice
the required number.

"It has no organized opposition," boasted Dan Hamburg, one of the
local Green Party members who drafted the measure.

Hamburg said, "Everybody knows somebody who smokes marijuana. It's a
major part of our culture."

Others say no groups have sprung up to oppose the initiative simply
because, if passed, it would change nothing. State and federal drug
possession laws would still apply, making the measure moot.

Measure G backers say its bark is more important than its bite. The
initiative, they say, will be a statement against what they see as
the wasteful, multibillion-dollar national war on drugs.

That goal has inspired even residents who don't smoke marijuana, such
as fifth-generation cattle and sheep rancher John Pinches, a former
county supervisor. "A message is going to be sent to the state and
federal level that we have our priorities upside down," Pinches said.

A plain-speaking, stocky man who favors cowboy hats and boots,
Pinches said he and other locals watch the futility of the war on
drugs from their backyards. "I can see what I consider a misuse of
money," Pinches said of the massive drug raids that are as much a
part of life here as traffic jams in Los Angeles.

With marijuana still abundant in the area, Pinches dismissed the
decades of drug eradication efforts in the so-called Emerald Triangle
of Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity counties. "The only net result is
that it drives the price of marijuana up. It's the best farm support
program that the Feds have come up with at any time," he said.

In Mendocino County, being practical and conservative sometimes means
doing what makes sense, even if it seems odd to outsiders. Take
Diamond Jim's Sporting Goods-Liquor Store-Deli, a roadside shop in
Ukiah, the county seat.

The store sells an array of locally produced microbrews and wines,
homemade red potato salad, made-to-order sandwiches and rifles,
pistols, shotguns and knives. "We've never been robbed," said owner
Jim Tsarnas, explaining the wisdom of stocking guns in a liquor store.

Tsarnas has yet to decide on how to vote on Measure G, but said if he
chooses to back the initiative, it is because he firmly believes in
protecting individual rights. Tsarnas said he doesn't smoke
marijuana, "but in America, you ought to be able to do just about
anything you want, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else or the
environment."

Tsarnas makes his point while standing over a counter topped by an
autographed picture of Charlton Heston, with the inscription: "The
doorway to all freedoms is framed with muskets." Next to him, a clerk
named Freeman Burnstad rings up a customer's six-pack of beer on a
cash register with two dispensers of paper for rolling cigarettes
affixed to its side.

Burnstad, who will vote for the initiative, said he doesn't smoke
pot, but his father does. He says many Mendocino residents share his
view that marijuana is more like a farm product than drugs like
methamphetamines.

In a region famous for its wineries and microbreweries, some also see
hypocrisy in promoting alcohol while condemning cannabis. "If a guy's
a wine grower, we give him an award at the county fair. If he's a
marijuana grower, we throw him in prison," Pinches said.

Eric Shepard, a 20-year-old supporter of the initiative, agrees.
"Other things, even alcohol, should be illegal before marijuana," he
said while working at the Freedom Skate Shop in Ukiah. Wearing one of
the store's T-shirts with an eagle on the chest, Shepard also
disputed the argument that passage of Measure G would send a negative
message to young people about drug use. "It's up to parents to keep
their kids in line, not the government," he said.

But Ukiah Unified School District Supt. Gary Brawley said that the
initiative would be another hurdle for those trying to prevent drug
use. "It puts us in a difficult situation where we're advocating a
drug-free lifestyle and at the same time we have laws on the books
that would indicate that it's legal to grow marijuana," he said.

A drug-free lifestyle apparently has little appeal in Mendocino
County. Just under 65% of county voters approved the 1996 statewide
initiative on marijuana for medical use. Now, residents with
prescriptions can register with the county to grow marijuana for
their own treatment.

Hamburg has six plants on his 46-acre spread outside Ukiah. This
fall, Hamburg's wife, Carrie, harvested their crop and cooked it with
butter and marshmallows, creating a brittle candy. Hamburg said his
mother, who lives with them and suffers from breast cancer, uses the
candy to stimulate her appetite.

Peter Keegan, a Ukiah doctor and a booster of Measure G, said it is
the "Just Say No" approach that sends the wrong message to youths.

Such "miseducation" from adults, Keegan said, hurts the credibility
of substance abuse prevention efforts.

A graduate of Harvard and UC San Francisco medical school, Keegan
said that at the local high school, many honor students use marijuana
and know firsthand that "you can do your work and be a productive
citizen."

Whether Measure G passes or not, Keegan pointed out at a recent town
meeting that the upcoming election already has a lesson for youths:
"You can smoke marijuana and be president of the United States," he
said, prompting a roar of laughter.