ONE-TIME CANDIDATE BEATS DRUG CASE

A state circuit court on Friday dismissed marijuana charges against
former gubernatorial candidate Loretta Nall, who ran a colorful 2006
campaign on a legalized pot platform.

Campaign materials for the Libertarian candidate included a photo of
the woman displaying her ample cleavage above the words "More of these
boobs." Below were photos of other candidates, including Gov. Bob
Riley, and the words "And less of these boobs."

According to court documents, Tallapoosa County Circuit Court Judge
Ray D. Martin dismissed the marijuana case Friday because prosecutors
failed to respond to Nall's motion to suppress evidence seized in a
2002 raid of Nall's Alexander City mobile home.

In the raid, authorities found rolling papers, a scale and 0.87 gram
of marijuana. Nall was convicted on misdemeanor charges of possessing
marijuana and drug paraphernalia and was given a 30-day suspended
sentence. She appealed the conviction and the case dragged on for
nearly five years.

Reached mid-celebration on Friday, Nall said the charges were
dismissed without prejudice, meaning they can be refiled. But without
evidence from the raid, prosecutors won't be able to make another
case, she said.

"They can't come at me again until they have some new evidence.
They've got to start all over," she said.

Nall has long contended that authorities raided her home because she
wrote a letter to the editor of The Birmingham News in which she
advocated legalizing pot. The letter ran in the newspaper on Nov. 7,
2002. The raid came six days later.

Authorities with the Tallapoosa district attorney's office did not
return telephone calls seeking comment on Friday.

Nall said she was a regular voter but had never considered running for
political office before her arrest. Her treatment by authorities made
her mad enough to run for office, she said, and so in 2006 she ran for
governor.

Her campaign sold T-shirts and "stash boxes" to raise money. Her Cafe
Press Web page is still active, selling bosom-themed T-shirts for $18,
barbecue aprons for $16, and "anti-state" thong underwear for $8.99.

Nall, who conceded she was a longshot in the 2006 governor's race,
said Friday that she's not done running for office. She intends to run
for Democrat Betty Carol Graham's District 81 House seat in 2010.

Nall, who described herself as a fiscal conservative and a social
liberal, said she hasn't decided on a political party, and may run as
an independent.

"I think a seat in the Alabama House is right where I need to be," she
said.