TAKE THIS PLANT AND SHOVE IT

OC continues war on legal pot

Martyrs don't come much more sympathetic -- or willing to suffer -- than
Marvin Chavez, founder of the Orange County Patient-Doctor-Nurse Support
Group. He's already been busted twice this year for putting marijuana into
the hands of seriously ill people -- including cancer and AIDS patients --
whose doctors prescribed the drug as medicine. According to a majority of
California voters (who passed Proposition 215 in November 1996), that should
be legal.

But in Orange County, it's still illegal. And even though prosecutors
understand that Chavez isn't your run-of-the-mill street dealer, they're
determined to treat him just as harshly. Three weeks ago, pretrial
arguments started in Chavez's upcoming criminal trial at the Orange County
Superior Court on 10 felony counts of marijuana distribution. If convicted,
Chavez, who claims he was entrapped by undercover police with phony pot
prescriptions, will face several years in state prison.

Chavez was first arrested in January on seven counts of felony marijuana
distribution, all of them carried out through his Santa Ana-based
organization. He pleaded no contest and was released on his own
recognizance with a warning from the judge to avoid further marijuana
transactions.

But Chavez, who smokes marijuana to treat a degenerative spinal condition,
ignored the warning, citing humanitarian reasons. One of his members, he
pointed out, had just died from cancer, and others -- like AIDS patient Ron
Hobson, who was profiled in the Weekly in February -- depend on the drug to
keep up their appetite and weight.

So, just weeks after Chavez's release, two undercover agents posing as a
sick Californian and his caregiver set up Chavez with a phony doctor's note.
Once Chavez filled the bogus prescription by providing the detectives with
two bags of weed, they busted him. Prosecutors have also charged Chavez
with mailing a bag of marijuana to a member in Chico.

Because of his previous drug charges, the three new charges carry
enhancements that guarantee stiffer sentencing should Chavez be convicted.

Interviewed after his pretrial hearing on Friday, Chavez seemed remarkably
upbeat. "My strength is still there, and I'm confident that I will win," he
told the Weekly. "But it's a shame we have to go through all this just to
protect our freedom and our rights."

Chavez seemed more worried about how to survive the financial toll his trial
has already brought. "We're $9,000 or $10,000 in the hole for legal costs
right now," he explained.

Kennedy also told the Weekly that he plans to call California Attorney
General Dan Lungren, Orange County DA Mike Capizzi, and DA prosecutor Carl
Armbrust as defense witnesses in the upcoming trial. "The Compassionate Use
Act of 1996 [made law by Prop. 215] states that federal and state
governments are encouraged to implement a plan for the safe and affordable
distribution of medical marijuana," Kennedy explained. "That's been the law
since 1996. I want to know what Lungren, Capizzi and Armbrust have done to
comply with that law."

"Neither the federal nor the state government is complying with that,"
responded Armbrust. "The law says we are encouraged to comply, but it
doesn't say we have to."

Armbrust said that, in his opinion, "safe and affordable" distribution of
medical marijuana is already provided for by the section of the
Compassionate Use Act that allows patients or caregivers to grow their own
marijuana plants. "We're not prosecuting anyone for growing their own plants
or for possession if they have doctors' notes," explained Armbrust.

To prove his point, Armbrust cited Chavez's arrest at his Garden Grove home
three months ago. While making the bust, Garden Grove police discovered
several marijuana plants growing in the back yard. Police telephoned
Armbrust to ask for guidance, and, Armbrust said, he told the cops "not to
remove those plants. So they left them there."

"We don't go after anybody unless they are selling marijuana, transporting
it, or possessing large quantities with the intent to sell," Armbrust said.
"But that doesn't mean that Marvin Chavez can hide behind this law."

Yet on June 27, only days after Chavez was released from jail, a Lake Forest
member of Chavez's organization made a late-night 911 call to police when a
houseguest refused to leave and attacked him. Ed Kamfield told the Weekly
that police officers arrived at his home, but instead of arresting the
assailant, they discovered about 20 marijuana plants and called for backup.
Kamfield, who has donated marijuana plants to Chavez in the past, assured
the Weekly that he is a sick Californian covered by Prop. 215. Kamfield
said police confiscated his doctor's notes and cited him for possession of
the pot plants. As police handcuffed him, Kamfield protested, insisting
that his homegrown-marijuana supply was legal under Prop. 215.

"Not according to [Orange County's Sheriff] Brad Gates, it isn't," the cops
allegedly answered before promptly hauling the bruised and bloody Kamfield
to jail.

To help Chavez pay off his $100,000 bail, send donations to the Orange
County Patient-Doctor-Nurse Support Group, P.O. Box 6826, Santa Ana, CA
92706. Checks should be made out to "OCPDNSG."

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett