MAKING CASE FOR MARIJUANA

On a blazing afternoon this week, about 20 people assembled in front of a
nondescript office building on the West Loop. They held up signs, shouted
slogans and denounced the federal government's raids of marijuana
dispensaries in states that have legalized medical marijuana use. The local
event in front of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration offices was
coordinated with similar protests in cities across the country, including
major cities in the nine states that have medical marijuana laws.

Leaders of Houston's small but passionate drug policy reform movement plan
to introduce a medical marijuana bill in the Texas Legislature next year.
Their broader agenda, discussed in a conference at Rice University's Baker
Public Policy Institute in April, focuses on spreading their message that
the "war on drugs" has been a costly, destructive failure.

Middle-aged men in business suits, college-aged men and women with assorted
body piercings, and a paraplegic in a wheelchair were among the
participants in this week's protest, which led to no arrests or
confrontations with authorities.

Frank Smith, 80, said he has never used marijuana but opposes its
prohibition, particularly for medical purposes, on principle. Proponents
say marijuana is useful for conditions ranging from glaucoma to multiple
sclerosis.

"I have prostate cancer," Smith said. "If I should ever need marijuana, I
want to be able to smoke it without going to jail."