BOCA POT-USE ACTIVIST TO ATTEND SUPREME COURT HEARING

A dozen times per day, Mizner Park stockbroker Irvin Rosenfeld retrieves a
clear, sealed plastic bag from his suit, pulls out a fat marijuana joint
and openly lights up in his car or on the stair landing outside of his office.

No one has called the police yet and no one is going to.

That's because Rosenfeld, 48, is one of eight people in the country legally
allowed to smoke pot -- supplied by the federal government under a program
begun in 1982 -- for their medical conditions.

And now Rosenfeld, who has fought for the medical use of marijuana for
decades, will be present Wednesday when the U.S. Supreme Court hears the
petition of Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative to supply the drug to 14
other sick people in California.

A June verdict is expected.

Rosenfeld's hope is to give a face to a thorny issue that has sparked a
nationwide debate, until the drug is legally distributed to patients who
need it.

"I think it's important for me to be there," said Rosenfeld. "To put a face
on the situation so that the people and government officials understand
that this is an average individual getting spectacular results using this
substance for 30 years that the people against us said shouldn't happen. It
shouldn't be that way."

Rosenfeld suffers from Multiple Congenital Cartilogenous Exostosis, an
illness causing the continuous growth of bone tumors and subsequent tears
in the muscles. To dull the pain, his physicians have prescribed morphine
since he was 10.

In 1971 as a freshman in college, Rosenfeld began smoking pot to fit in.
Soon he realized smoking pot dulled his pain better than morphine.

Since then, Rosenfeld has battled for the legal use of the drug. But
despite nine states passing laws allowing the medicinal use of marijuana,
federal government agencies -- such as the Drug Enforcement Agency and the
National Institute on Drug Abuse -- have balked at the idea.

In the crossfire is the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, which opened
in 1996 to provide the medical distribution of marijuana. Although the
cooperative had the support of local government officials, it struck out
with the federal government.

For Jeff Jones, the executive director of the cooperative, having
Rosenfeld's example is an asset.

"He proves our point that you can have medical necessity patients."