MARIJUANA'S AID GETS CELEBRATED

At the age of 17, Mary Jane Curtis was diagnosed with glaucoma and
told that she would be blind in five years.

Now 51, the Joshua Tree resident credits her ability to see to her
use of medical marijuana.

"Why can't those of us who are responsible adults have our medicine
without too much trouble?" Curtis, welling with tears, asked
Cathedral City Mayor Pro Tem Greg Pettis Sunday afternoon.

Pettis was speaking at the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project's
monthly meeting in the Cathedral City Library.

He urged the audience of about 50 people to be vocal about their
right to medical marijuana, especially in the wake of the Riverside
County Board of Supervisors' decision last week to pursue a ban on
dispensaries for the drug.

Although a county ordinance wouldn't affect cities directly, Pettis
said it was important for medical marijuana advocates like Curtis to
speak out to prevent further restrictions.

"Those stories are the ones elected officials need to hear," he said,
emphasizing the public comment periods that are available at the
start of every Cathedral City Council meeting.

"You don't want to browbeat but you need to share your stories," he said.

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted last week to ban
dispensaries in unincorporated areas, like Bermuda Dunes and Thousand
Palms. They also joined a mounting legal challenge to the state's
medical marijuana laws.

"At the city level, you do have the opportunity to effect some
changes. And not speaking as someone who wants to be sued, but
lawsuits are a good way to get the attention of the municipalities," he said.

Elyse Del Francia-Goodwin of Rancho Mirage, who attended the meeting,
said Petts was "right on target."

"It's the only way it's going to get done," she said. She stopped at
the meeting on behalf of her husband, Howard, 80, who has Parkinson's
disease and began using medical marijuana to treat it three months ago.

"It stops his shaking completely," she said. "No other medicine has done that."

But Alan Layton of La Quinta said he would have liked to see Pettis
showing more initiative.

"He needs to take responsibility as a city councilman and do the will
of the people," Layton said.

He said local officials should initiate forums and discussions on the
issue, even forming liaisons with medical marijuana patients and
advocates, instead of waiting for constituents to petition them.

"They need to get off of their butts and start forming advisory
councils," he said.

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WHAT THEY SAID

"It's possible, as citizens, to voice our opinion and have our
opinion be heard. Each person is responsible to let it be known." -
Joy Meredith of Palm Springs

"People are going to jail for this (using medical marijuana). It's
ridiculous." - Elyse Del Francia-Goodwin of Rancho Mirage

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors "was totally 100 percent in
violation of state law. We need to take them to court." - Lanny
Swerdlow, director of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project.