FLIERS GET CANNABIS ACTIVIST ARRESTED

TAMPA -- Anthony Lorenzo stood beside a papier-mache replica of a
4-foot-tall marijuana joint Saturday night as costumed Guavaween
festivalgoers passed by.

Dressed in a black T-shirt with white letters reading "DEA," Lorenzo stood
with a group of supporters with the Florida Cannabis Action Network and
distributed fliers that urged people to "Vote Libertarian to end the drug
war," and that talked of reforming state marijuana laws for medical and
environmental use.

"We focus on events like Guavaween to get the message out directly to the
people," Lorenzo said.

Lorenzo and other activists participated in the parade with a float that
bore a picture of Uncle Sam urinating on the U.S. Constitution. A jail cell
was built in the front of the float with a wheelchair behind bars in
protest of what Lorenzo said is a federal attack against medical marijuana
in California.

The Tampa resident and other activists distributed about 3,000 fliers to
the crowd on Seventh Avenue Saturday before police confiscated them, citing
a city ordinance that prohibits pedestrians and businesses from passing out
handbills in historic Ybor City without a permit.

Lorenzo, 27, was arrested and charged with unlawful distribution of
handbills and obstructing or opposing an officer without violation. Police
also confiscated a videotape of Lorenzo's arrest. He was released on $600
bail Saturday.

A supporter of FLCAN since 1997, Lorenzo said the law violates his
constitutional right to freedom of speech.

"We should have the freedom to distribute literature about any bad laws in
Florida and the United States on public property," said Lorenzo, who has
had several drug related arrests.

But a city ordinance adopted about two years ago states that off-premises
canvassing "causes harassment of pedestrians in the Ybor City Historic
District." The ordinance also states that canvassing has "a negative impact
on aesthetics" and "causes sidewalk congestion and impedes orderly movement
of the crowd."

The law prohibits permit and nonpermit holders from distributing handbills
on Seventh and Eighth avenues and any publicly owned parking lot or garage.
Also prohibited is distribution on Sixth Avenue, between the eastern
boundary of 16th Street and the western boundary of 15th Street.

Annette DeLisle of the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce said the ordinance was
a response to fliers that littered the streets and were being distributed
by businesses, many outside the historic district. "It just got to be out
of hand," DeLisle said. "They would tape them on the poles and put them on
walls."

DeLisle said she didn't think the ordinance was unconstitutional because
there are areas designated for people to distribute fliers, just not in the
historic district.

Lorenzo said he plans to challenge the ordinance. "Tampa's City Council has
absolutely overstepped boundaries in neglecting to provide provisions for
political groups to exercise their right to free speech," he said.