COUPLE TAKE HUMOROUS APPROACH TO POT REFORM

Sue Smith and Woody Speigner say they don't want everybody to "stop
and smoke the flowers" they would just like those who would
like to, to have the right.

A pair of Taos photographers who support the legalization of
marijuana, the two have launched a new group here in the hopes that
humor can tweak the nose of the establishment and lead to the
legalization of pot.

As Geezers for Ganja, Sue and Woody a "last names are not
important," they agreed a want to add a little Taos flair to the
efforts of groups across the country to lobby Congress and state
legislatures to make an honest plant out of the hemp flower.

"We don't advocate the use of marijuana by young people and we do not
advocate breaking the law," their literature says. "But we do believe
mature adults should have the right to indulge in marijuana use if
that is what they enjoy."

The couple, each in their early 60s, plead their cause with tongue in
cheek, countering what they consider the government's and society's
"hypocritical support of approved recreational drugs like alcohol and
tobacco..."

Geezers for Ganja is an outgrowth of the couple's commercial
photography business, Pot Luck Photography, which produces a line of
greeting cards, personal-message magnets and now a specialty line of
marijuana cards and magnets, championing marijuana.

"Pot is Mother Nature's Way of Saying High," one card says. Others
offer messages such as "Take the Time to Stop and Smoke the Flowers"
and "A Friend With Weed Is a Friend Indeed."

One of their most popular magnets, they say, features a photo of a
laid-back parrot on a perch, flanked by two marijuana plants, with the
greeting, "Polly Want a Reefer?"

"It's just a way of having a little fun," said Woody. His drawl
betrays his Alabama roots and 20 years in Texas.

Their wares are carried in a few stores in Taos, Santa Fe and
Albuquerque.

Not surprisingly, New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson is Sue and Woody's
favorite political figure. Johnson's advocating of marijuana
legalization has won them over.

"We had a brief interview with Johnson last December and told him we
thought he should run for the U.S. Senate," Sue said. "He said after
the decriminalization stand he has taken, he couldn't get elected dog
catcher."

Johnson's press secretary, Diane Kinderwater, said that sounded like
something the governor might say. She said he wasn't aware of Geezers
for Ganja, but noted it is just one of many such groups lobbying for
legalization of marijuana.

"The national war on drugs is a dismal failure and everybody knows
it," Woody said, echoing Johnson's sentiments.

According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana
Law, about 18 million Americans have smoked pot in the last year and
about 70 million have smoked it at least once. More than 10 million
people, according to NORML, have been arrested for marijuana-related
offenses since 1972.

"It is crazy to think they should all be put in jail," Woody
said.

Geezers for Ganja literature says the group caters to "older Americans
who recognize the healing qualities of this plant for physical, mental
and spiritual well being..."

The National Institute on Drug Abuse, while saying the long-term
effects of marijuana use are not known, notes that it can impair
short-term memory and says that, among other things, regular marijuana
users can suffer respiratory problems similar to those suffered by
cigarette smokers.

The hemp plant itself, Woody notes, distinguishing it from the flower
that produces marijuana, has a long and noble tradition in America.
Hemp, used for fibers, sails, rope and woven fabrics, was grown by
George Washington and other notable founders of the United States of
America.

Aside from efforts to lobby for legalization, Sue said, their business
is doing pretty well.

"We saw a vast market out there for a humorous approach to lending
support for the legalization movement," said Sue, who came to Taos via
Minnesota, Colorado and Texas.

"And let's face it," she said, "kindred spirits enjoy a little 'in'
joke.