PROTESTER TO GIVE AWAY POT ON COURTHOUSE STEPS

The ongoing legal battle between a Garberville man and Humboldt
County Sheriff Dennis Lewis over an ounce of confiscated marijuana
will take another turn on Friday.

At 4:20 p.m., Chris Robert Giauque is scheduled to give away a
half-pound of marijuana to anyone carrying a medical marijuana card.
The time and date of the rally (April 20) are meant to coincide with
"420," a popular catchphrase associated with pot smoking, preferably
at 4:20 p.m.

Giauque, 34, is a medical marijuana patient whose approximately
1-ounce stash was seized during a traffic stop in April 1999. Sheriff
Lewis has refused to return the marijuana to him, saying he risks
violating federal law. However, Lewis also risks being in contempt of
court with Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Bruce Watson, who
ordered Lewis to return the pot. Then earlier this month, the
Sheriff's Department and the county filed a complaint against the
federal Drug Enforcement Agency and Giauque.

Giauque, 34, said he smokes marijuana to alleviate pain from a back
injury he suffered seven years ago and he's tired of butting heads
with police and wants to prove a point about the legality of medical
marijuana. So on Friday he's giving away a half-pound of Sensi
seedback big buds to anyone who has legal prescription.

"(Law enforcement) wants to deny that it's legal, but when you put it
up in their face, there's nothing they can really do about it,"
Giauque said. He is a member of the Salmon Creek Cannabis
Cooperative, which distributes medical marijuana to about 70 people.
Two free ounces of marijuana are given each month to cancer patients
and people in wheelchairs. For those with less serious disabilities,
two ounces cost about $280.

Giauque said he's been raided four times in four years at his
Garberville residence, where he grows the plants.

"I'm fed up. We changed the law," he said. "We need to teach these
guys what time it is and they can't mess with medical marijuana."

Giauque said he doesn't expect to be arrested on Friday.

Lewis was not available for comment. He has previously said a state
judge cannot make him violate federal law, and noted that the issue
of state versus federal marijuana law is in the hands of the U.S.
Supreme Court.