CANNABIS GROUP PAYS FOR ADS ABOUT BUSH AND CHENEY'S ALCOHOL USAGE

DENVER - The group that put a measure on the Colorado ballot to
legalize marijuana possession ran newspaper ads Saturday claiming
President Bush drunkenly challenged his father to fight and Vice
President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a hunting companion after drinking.

One of the ads was placed in the Greeley Tribune in Greeley, just of
north of Denver where Bush made a campaign appearance on Saturday. It
had a photo of Bush accompanied by text that read: "In 1972, this man
tried to fight his dad when he was drunk. Just one more reason to vote
Yes on 44."

Referendum 44, which is on Tuesday's ballot, would allow adults to
carry up to an ounce of marijuana, similar to an ordinance Denver
voters approved last year. No other state allows pot possession for
anything other than medical use. Federal law also prohibits possession.

The Tribune ad was referring to published reports that in 1972, at the
age of 26, Bush had come home drunk and challenged his father to a
fight. The matter was settled without violence.

The Cheney ad, also accompanied by a photo, ran in The Gazette of
Colorado Springs one day after he spoke to troops at the nearby Fort
Carson Army post and attended a campaign rally.

"Shot his friend in the face after drinking. Just one more reason to
vote "Yes on 44," the ad said.

Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a friend during a quail hunt in
Texas on Feb. 11. Cheney said he had one beer several hours before the
shooting.

White House spokesman Tony Snow, asked for comment aboard Air Force
One as Bush headed to Texas after the Colorado rally, dismissed the
ads as "kind of snarky and juvenile."

"I'm not sure they did their cause much good," he said.

SAFER Colorado, the group that ran the ads, has come under criticism
both for the style and content of its campaign, which contends
marijuana use is safer than drinking alcohol and would reduce domestic
violence. Its supporters have disrupted at least one rally of Gov.
Bill Owens and other opponents of the measure.

"They were both in town today and we are simply taking this
opportunity to draw attention to the fact that alcohol contributes to
far more problems than marijuana," said Mason Tvert, campaign director
for the group.