PRO-MARIJUANA GROUP HONORING S.F.'S HALLINAN/AWARD WILL BE NAMED FOR D.A.

San Francisco -- Medical marijuana advocates have named an award after San
Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan, saying they will give the
honor at least once a year to an elected official who demonstrates "courage
and leadership" on drug policy issues.

At a ceremony tonight in the Venetian Room of the Fairmont Hotel, Hallinan
will receive the inaugural award.

"He appreciates their support," Fred Gardner, spokesman for the district
attorney's office, said yesterday. "There's kind of a mutual admiration
going on."

No other U.S. district attorney has campaigned for liberal drug policies in
the way Hallinan has. He was the only district attorney to support
Proposition 215, the state initiative approved by voters in 1996 that
allows ill patients with a doctor's approval to possess and grow marijuana.

This year, he supported a Board of Supervisors measure that allows city
health officials to issue identification cards to marijuana users who
qualify under Proposition 215.

`'He's action-oriented," said Jeff Jones, executive director of the Oakland
Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, a sponsor of the Terence Hallinan Award. "He
supported Dennis Peron when (his marijuana club) got raided by (former)
state Attorney General Dan Lungren. He has seen to it that he has not
prosecuted any medical marijuana cases.

"Yet he's been able to fit it in with San Francisco and keep a rein on (pot
use)," Jones said. "There is not a bunch of craziness happening. There are
still arrests. Things are being sorted out."

In addition to a wooden plaque, recipients of the Terence Hallinan Award
get a "small monetary contribution" that is expected to be donated to charity.

Tonight, Hallinan will receive $2,500 and the adoration of a crowd that may
number in the hundreds. Gardner said Hallinan is considering donating his
award to the Standing Against Global Exploitation (SAGE) Project, a
nonprofit group that counsels victims of abuse and prostitution.

The sponsors of the Terence Hallinan Award, which include the San Francisco
Patients and Caregivers Health Center, a Mission Street dispenser of
medical marijuana, will hand out the award at least once a year --
sometimes more often, depending on political circumstances.

Hallinan "is an icon who should inspire other public officials," said Rich
Evans, who runs the Patients and Caregivers Health Center. "We hope this
award will highlight the important contributions he has made and encourage
others to follow his example."

Organizers of the ceremony, which will be at 7 p.m., considered holding it
at a marijuana club, but settled on the Venetian Room because of its
central location, among other factors.

It is already a venue steeped in San Francisco lore. In 1945, President
Harry S. Truman held a reception there to mark the drafting and signing of
the U.N. charter. In 1961, Tony Bennett first sang "I Left My Heart in San
Francisco" in the Venetian Room. And now, the city's chief prosecutor will
be honored there by pot advocates.

"I felt that Terence needed to be shown that what he's doing is a good
thing," Evans said.