BOCA MAN THREATENS TO SUE DELTA OVER MARIJUANA INCIDENT

FORT LAUDERDALE -- Boca Raton stockbroker Irvin Rosenfeld, who is permitted
to smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes, wants Delta Airlines to
apologize for not letting him board a plane in March.

On Wednesday, Rosenfeld and his lawyer gave the airline 30 days to admit it
was wrong, promise it won't happen again, and reimburse him for changing
flights; otherwise, he said, he would sue Delta for violations of the
Americans with Disabilities Act.

"It was a real shabby way to treat a longtime customer," Rosenfeld said. He
said Delta has never responded to his request for an explanation. On
Wednesday, Delta spokeswoman Cindi Kurczewski repeated what the airline
said in March: "We are looking into this matter." She had no further comment.

Rosenfeld, who smokes up to 12 marijuana cigarettes a day to fight tumors
and is one of only seven federally prescribed users in the country, was
flying from Fort Lauderdale to Washington the evening of March 26 to
support defendants in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court that might have
expanded medical use of the drug; the court later ruled against that group.

Rosenfeld said airline agents told him he would need permission from every
state over which the flight flew or else have to leave the marijuana behind.

"This is no different than if they had told a diabetic, 'You can't bring
your insulin on the plane,' " said Rosenfeld's lawyer, Christopher C. Sharp.

Rosenfeld said he had to retrieve his bags and find a flight on AirTran and
did not get to Washington until the following afternoon.

He said the changes cost him about an extra $400.

He said he had called in advance to alert the airline, as he has done in
the past; he said he has flown Delta about a dozen times in 18 years and
the airline had been accommodating before now.

Wednesday morning, after Rosenfeld walked downstairs to accommodate
television crews who wanted to tape him smoking marijuana, a man identified
as the building manager ran up and immediately ordered everyone off the
property.

Sharp said his law partner has held several news conferences in front of
the building without incident, but none at which someone smoked marijuana.

The landlord could not be reached for comment Wednesday.