PETER MCWILLIAMS, ADVOCATE OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

LOS ANGELES -- Peter McWilliams, best-selling author and medical marijuana
advocate, has died, friends said Friday.

Mr. McWilliams, 50, had been awaiting sentencing in August on federal
charges of growing marijuana for sale.

No cause of death was listed, but he suffered from AIDS and Hodgkin's
lymphoma.

He admitted cultivating marijuana for sale in a 1999 plea agreement and
gave a nationally televised speech at the 1998 Libertarian National
Convention.

"Peter McWilliams was a true hero who fought and ultimately gave his life
for what he believed in: the right to heal oneself without government
interference," said California Libertarian Party Chairman Mark Hinkle.

According to a biography on his Web site, Mr. McWilliams began his career
as an author at 17, writing poetry books.

He went on to publish the best-selling "Surviving the Loss of Love" in 1971
and a series of self-help books, "Life 101."