CALIFORNIA CITY IS A PIONEER IN MEDICAL-MARIJUANA USE

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - Andrea Tischler is perched atop ground zero of
California's escalating medical-marijuana wars.

She and a partner recently opened the nation's first "bed, bud and
breakfast," a cozy Victorian inn with a backyard oasis where
medicinal-pot users can fire up right next to the clothing-optional
hot tub.

"This inn will be a comfort zone for people with a medical need for
marijuana," said Tischler, a former teacher. "While it may be the
nation's first, many more will follow."

The Compassion Flower Inn opened on the heels of a new city ordinance
that allows people with diseases such as AIDS, cancer and arthritis to
legally grow and use pot.

Defying federal authorities, Santa Cruz is one of several California
communities that has jump-started efforts to put the state's
controversial medicinal-marijuana law into practice.

State voters passed Proposition 215 in 1996 to permit the sick to
obtain marijuana under a doctor's care.

But federal prosecutors stepped in and closed down six
cannabis-buyers' clubs in Northern California, saying marijuana use
was still illegal under U.S. law. State legislators have steered
clear, backing off of a proposal for a statewide cardholder system
that would allow registered medicinal-marijuana users, providers and
growers to avoid arrest.

"This issue has been a political hot potato, and it's been hard for
state officials to reach any consensus," said Anthony Condotti,
assistant city attorney in Santa Cruz. "So cities and counties at the
grassroots level have taken the lead."

Both the Santa Cruz law and the new bed and breakfast are being
closely monitored, not only by cities statewide, but also by the
Clinton administration.

"Our position continues to be that marijuana remains a prohibited
controlled substance," said Gretchen Michael, a Department of Justice
spokeswoman. "What we say to people in Santa Cruz is that no matter
what laws you pass, the federal government could still come knocking."

Santa Cruz City Council member Mike Rotkin said the city was not
looking for a fight with the federal government.

"But the need for this law is so great, it's worth the risk," Rotkin
said. "How do you tell a cancer patient enduring painful chemotherapy
they can have morphine but not marijuana? It's just so illogical."

"If enough communities follow suit with a patchwork of different
medical-pot laws, state legislators will have to step in and bring
some order to implementing Prop. 215," Rotkin said.

Proposition 215 did not set standards for the amount of marijuana
medicinal users could have in their possession. In Mendocino County,
authorities have devised their own numbers: Patients can apply to the
county Health Department for an identification card that allows them
to possess up to six marijuana plants and 2 pounds of marijuana.

"That may sound like a lot, but marijuana is a once-a-year crop," said
Mendocino County District Attorney Norm Vroman. "If you run out, you
can't go to the grocery store to buy more."