SAN FRANCISCO MAY JOIN BATTLE OVER POT BY GROWING ITS OWN

Frustrated by federal efforts to stymie the medicinal use of marijuana, San
Francisco is considering a novel and potentially provocative new
twist--growing its own pot.

A measure is headed onto the November ballot asking San Francisco voters
whether the municipal government should explore cultivating and
distributing cannabis to the seriously ill.

By giving marijuana use for medical reasons the city's blessing, the Board
of Supervisors hopes to ease legal pressure on patients and undercut
continuing efforts by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to shut down
clubs that distribute the drug. But a move into pot farming by the city
would almost certainly intensify the court fight over conflicting state and
federal laws. Though use of marijuana is legal in California and seven
other states if approved by a doctor, pot remains a banned drug in any
circumstances under federal law.

"Yes, this does challenge federal law and the DEA," said Mark Leno, the San
Francisco supervisor who pushed the measure onto the ballot during a board
meeting Monday. "It has to be done. No one should have to go on the street
to find this medicine."

The ballot measure is advisory, and would allow officials to examine the
pitfalls and possibly pull back if obstacles to starting a pot distribution
system seem too great.

If the city presses ahead, the federal government would almost certainly
challenge it in court.

"We think it's unfortunate the supervisors are putting this on the ballot,"
said Richard Meyer, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman in San
Francisco. "I just can't see the city being in the business of growing pot."

Some backers of medical use of marijuana say the city's endeavor might
simply be written off as an end-run by a region regarded by the Bush
administration as eccentric.

"The rest of the country looks at us as the land of fruits and nuts," said
William Panzer, an Oakland attorney who has defended several patients
prosecuted for using pot. "But the more that politicians are willing to
stand up and say, 'Let's stop this insanity,' it's helpful."

Gov. Gray Davis and state lawmakers have balked at stepping into the pot
distribution business for patients.

Davis has also remained opposed to a push for identification cards for
patients who use marijuana for medical reasons.

San Francisco, meanwhile, has unabashedly embraced the medical marijuana
movement. Last year, the city declared itself a sanctuary for patients who
use the drug.

Over the past two years, it has issued about 3,700 identification cards for
marijuana-using patients through the health department.

The debate has been particularly intense in San Francisco because of the
large number of AIDS and HIV patients in the city. Leno and other
supporters of medical use of marijuana say the drug helps in easing the
effects of AIDS-related wasting, the nausea of chemotherapy, as well as the
discomfort of glaucoma and multiple sclerosis.