COURT CASE TO DECIDE LIMITS ON MEDICINAL POT

SANTA ROSA -- One marijuana joint for medical purposes under California's
Proposition 215 normally doesn't raise too many eyebrows these days, but
when a Santa Rosa man grew nearly 100 marijuana plants to keep pace with
his ailments, authorities stepped in and arrested him.

Now a jury will need to decide: How much medical marijuana is too much?

Alan MacFarlane, 47, was arrested during two raids on his home. In May
1999, sheriff's deputies discovered 72 marijuana plants at his home. During
another visit in August 1999 they found 36 more and promptly uprooted them.

He faces marijuana possession charges as well as a felony charge of
possessing hallucinogenic mushrooms.

MacFarlane is a disabled Vietnam veteran and says he uses marijuana to
alleviate chronic pain and nausea while recuperating from thyroid cancer.

"I'm fighting for the ability to take care of my medical needs and be
unmolested at home," MacFarlane said.

MacFarlane's attorney says people who qualify for medical marijuana under
Proposition 215 have no idea what limits exist on their crop cultivation.
No limits have been defined.

"That's what makes it so hard for patients. The problem is there are no
guidelines for how much to grow," said MacFarlane's attorney, Sandy
Feinland. "You're at the mercy of whatever officer shows up at your door."

MacFarlane was reportedly offered a deal to plead guilty to possession of
more than one ounce of marijuana, but he refused, explaining that if was
convicted, he would no longer be able to grow his own stash.

Another defense attorney for MacFarlane told a judge Friday that MacFarlane
wrote a letter to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department in 1998 informing
officials he had medical approval to grow marijuana and had elected to do so.

But the sheriff's department disputes MacFarlane's claim that a deputy
called him back after receiving the letter and told him it was OK to grow
the plants.

After receiving a call from a neighbor of MacFarlane, sheriffs deputies
obtained a search warrant, found the plants and dug them up. Sonoma County
District Attorney Mike Mullins blames Proposition 215 for failing to
specify exactly how much marijuana patients can use and where they should
obtain it from.

Last month, a Hesperia man went to court to get his confiscated marijuana
plants back from the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department.

Wayne Hobbs' 162 pot plants were confiscated after authorities found them
while responding to a burglar alarm at his house.

Californians passed Proposition 215 in 1996. The law allows possession,
cultivation and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Implementation of
the measure has proven difficult, however, as lawmakers struggle to agree
on guidelines for prescribing and distributing the drug.