MEDICAL POT RALLIES HELD ACROSS STATE

Patients Protest U.S. Raids On Supplies

Medical marijuana patients and advocates held protests in San Francisco and
several other cities Monday against the latest federal raids on their supplies.

Outside the federal court building in San Francisco, about 30 demonstrators
chanted, "We're patients, not criminals," and carried "Wanted" posters for
President Bush, Attorney General John Ashcroft and Drug Enforcement
Administration chief Asa Hutchinson.

"This is a life-and-death issue," said Randi Webster of San Francisco, who
uses medical marijuana to ease pain from arthritis and a degenerative
condition in her knees, and hobbled along the march on a brace. "The
federal government doesn't see it that way. They think we're drug pushers
and terrorists."

Protests were also held in Oakland, Santa Rosa, San Jose, Santa Cruz,
Sacramento, Santa Ana and a number of cities outside California, said Steph
Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access, which organized
the events.

The rallies were in response to DEA raids this month in Sebastopol and
Santa Cruz, where City Council members plan to be on hand Tuesday as
members of the raided organization distribute marijuana publicly outside
City Hall.

The DEA's actions against the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana in
Santa Cruz on Sept. 5, particularly angered advocates. Federal agents
seized and destroyed plants and arrested the organization's founders,
Valerie and Mike Corral.

The Corrals, who had helped to draft Prop. 215, were quickly released and
have not been charged with any crimes by the U.S. attorney's office.

State Attorney General Bill Lockyer protested and demanded a meeting with
Ashcroft. Local officials also were irate because they had worked with the
Corrals for six years on a system to identify medical users and provide
marijuana without charge.

Citing federal laws against marijuana growing and distributing, federal
authorities have sought to close down medical marijuana suppliers in
California since state voters passed Proposition 215, a 1996 initiative
allowing use of marijuana for medical purposes under state law.

DEA spokesman Richard Meyer, who watched the start of Monday's rally in San
Francisco but headed indoors when demonstrators tried to get him to speak,
repeated his agency's position that it was targeting only "major dealers,"
not patients.

Asked about the patients at the protest, Meyer said, "We see them as
victims of their traffickers."