BITTER FIGHT OVER SWEET POT TREATS

Drug Agents Fear Candies Appeal to Kids - Medical Marijuana Users
Insist They're Legal

They had colorful labels and names such as Trippy, Stoney Rancher,
Toka-Cola, Pot Tart and Budtella.

To federal drug agents, they were dangerous marijuana-laced
concoctions that could fall into the hands of children. But to sick
patients who rely on cannabis to ease their symptoms, they were just
tasty ways to get their medicine -- and legal under California law.

Federal agents who converged on several of what they called
"marijuana candy factories" in the East Bay on Thursday seized
hundreds of sodas and candies laced with marijuana in what they said
was the largest bust of its kind on the West Coast.

Authorities say the drug is illegal no matter what form it takes,
especially marijuana candy products that mimic mainstream candies and
are attractive to youths.

But angry medical-marijuana patients said Friday that investigators
are blowing smoke and that the raids in Oakland and Emeryville on
Thursday are just the latest proof that federal investigators are
running roughshod over local and state laws that allow for medicinal
cannabis use.

In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 215, which allows the
use of marijuana for medical purposes with a doctor's recommendation.
Despite the law, authorities -- from the California Highway Patrol to
the Drug Enforcement Administration -- have pounced on local
marijuana-growing operations in the Bay Area, including locations in
San Francisco and Sonoma County in December.

The candy-factory raids are the latest crackdown.

"I think the government is once again trying to create terror through
our community," said Angel Raich, 40, of Oakland, who uses the drug
to treat pain, nausea and seizures associated with a brain tumor and
a wasting syndrome. "I do know for a fact that medical-cannabis candy
and those kinds of products are in the dispensaries, and patients do use them."

Rick Steeb, 55, of San Jose, who uses marijuana to treat the pain
from glaucoma, said he's "never seen (the candy) outside the
dispensaries. It's not like they were being sold in convenience stores."

But Special Agent Casey McEnry, spokeswoman for the DEA, the agency
that conducted this week's raids, said Friday that marijuana "is a
violation of federal law in this form and in the smoked form. Even
though there may be claims that these weren't meant for kids, the
packaging may suggest otherwise."

The alleged ringleader, Kenneth Affolter, 39, of Lafayette, six other
men and five women appeared Friday before U.S. Magistrate Bernard
Zimmerman in San Francisco and were ordered held without bail pending
a hearing next week.

Affolter, whose nickname is "Kena," operated Beyond Bomb, a
manufacturer of the marijuana treats, from adjoining warehouses at
1055 and 1071 Yerba Buena Ave. and 3960 Adeline St. in Emeryville,
DEA Special Agent William Armstrong wrote in an affidavit unsealed Friday.

Investigators learned that a $3,913 PG&E balance for a month's period
covered all three locations and was billed to Affolter, Armstrong wrote.

Affolter is listed as president of Clear Soap, which is under
suspension for failing to pay state taxes, DEA Special Agent Jason
Chin wrote in an affidavit. Affolter told Oakland police officers who
responded to a silent alarm at one of the Yerba Buena warehouses last
month that "he made soaps and candles," agents wrote.

Marijuana candies have been around for at least five years, cannabis
users say. But raids of these products only began recently.

In May, police seized Beyond Bomb products from Compassionate
Caregivers, a medical-marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles. In July,
DEA agents seized Beyond Bomb candies from a San Lorenzo home.

Oakland's Compassionate Caregivers Club at 1740 Telegraph Ave., which
Affolter used as a marijuana-cultivation site, was also searched as
part of this week's raids, which netted up to 5,000 marijuana plants
and $150,000 in cash, authorities said.

At the Telegraph Avenue site, agents found more than 100 marijuana
plants, authorities said. Growers there wore identical gray,
short-sleeve collared shirts and white lab coats, Armstrong wrote.

Employees also meticulously tracked their work hours on time cards,
affidavits said.

Affolter's attorney, Robert Byers of Oakland, said Friday that it was
unfair for authorities to claim that children could end up eating
Beyond Bomb's creations.

"They know it's not marketed for kids," Byers said. "They're only
seen in the context of people who use medical marijuana. A sweet,
nice-tasting product is certainly going to benefit them."