MARIN COUNTY PROSECUTOR FACING RECALL BECAUSE OF POT POLITICS

(04-05) 16:05 PDT SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (AP) -- Pot politics have invaded
upscale Marin County, with the top prosecutor facing recall amid claims
she's trampling on California's new medical marijuana law.

The May 22 election forced on Marin County District Attorney Paula Kamena
is the latest salvo in the war over pharmaceutical pot and one that may be
repeated; organizers have a list of five other county prosecutors they'd
like to turn out of office.

``This could be the start of something,'' says Chuck Thomas, spokesman for
the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, which is not involved
in the Kamena recall but is interested in seeing how it turns out.

At issue is Proposition 215, the law approved by California voters in 1996
that allows people to use marijuana for pain relief and other medical
purposes provided they have a note from a doctor saying it will help their
condition.

Advocates say pot has a host of medical uses, including stimulating
appetite, crucial for AIDS patients smitten with wasting syndrome.

Nine states, including California, have authorized the use of medical
marijuana.

The federal government, however, remains adamant that marijuana has no
medical use, creating a conflict that has gone all the way to the Supreme
Court, where justices are considering whether medical necessity trumps the
federal bans.

Meanwhile, although Proposition 215 clearly allows use of medical
marijuana, it is vague on where patients can get it, setting no limits and
saying that individuals or their primary caregivers can grow it.

That has launched spirited debates over how much is too much, and who
qualifies as a caregiver.

County officials have varied widely in how they approach the issue, with
some working closely with distribution clubs that sprang up after
Proposition 215 passed and others taking a harder line.

Kamena says she's been unfairly painted as a pot prosecutor. During her
first three years as Marin County district attorney, medical marijuana
cases made up a tiny percentage of her office caseload -- 73 out of 30,000
- -- and most were dismissed or ended in plea bargains.

Kamena says she's made her intentions clear by declaring she won't
prosecute if individuals have no more than six mature or 12 immature plants
and a half-pound of dry marijuana.

But opponents say, far from being lenient, Kamena's guidelines note that
federal law makes marijuana contraband and effectively give police a
license to confiscate whether or not they make arrests.

``Every joint, every gram, every leaf, anything they can get their hands
on, it's `Ha, ha, ha, the DA says this is all against federal law,''' says
Lynette Shaw, director of the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana and a
leader in the recall campaign. ``It's been really mean, and it's hurt the
health of hundreds of people.''

The Marin Alliance, based in the small town of Fairfax, still is dispensing
marijuana under an agreement with town officials, Shaw says.

Kamena says the problem is that Proposition 215 is ``very convoluted and
very complex. It is, in short, a mess. The idea of people who are ill who
can benefit from marijuana -- I don't have an issue with that at all.''

``The only people who have any trouble understanding the law is the cops
and the district attorneys,'' responds Dennis Peron, who wrote Proposition
215. ``What it is they don't understand is compassion.''

In Marin County, a liberal enclave of stunning views and breathtaking home
prices -- George Lucas is among the moneyed inhabitants -- just north of
the Golden Gate Bridge, Proposition 215 passed with 73 percent of the vote.

The recall petition against Kamena began on a quite different issue; it was
started by parents angry about child-custody cases in Marin courts. That
drive fizzled, but medical marijuana advocates later took up the cause,
getting enough signatures to force the election, which is expected to cost
$500,000.

The wording of the petition remains limited to the child-custody complaint
and Tom Van Zandt, a patent attorney and brother of the parent who
spearheaded the initial drive, is running for the job if Kamena is turned
out of office.

Kamena calls her opponents ``thuggish'' and questions whether the campaign
against her is funded by drug sales. She also contends that petition
signers were asked only whether they supported medical marijuana.

Shaw says that's nonsense, the recall was clearly explained by signature
gatherers and most of her funding came from donation jars set out at
various events.

Sonoma County District Attorney Mike Mullins, on the list of potential
targets, says recall organizers are misdirecting their energy.

``Child abuse, domestic violence and juvenile crime ... those are the
issues we ought to be talking about,'' he says.

Forced to campaign a year ahead of schedule, Kamena has been busily listing
her achievements, including working to improve response to sexual assault
victims and opening a center where children who may have been sexually
abused can be interviewed in a homelike setting.

``The question is, 'Do I deserve to be fired?' And my answer is,
'Absolutely not.''' Kamena says.

On the Net:

Kamena's site, www.paulakamena.com

Marin Alliance site, www.marinalliance.org/

Marin County site, www.marin.org