MARIJUANA GIVES HIM FREEDOM, TAKES IT AWAY

Case Shows Disparity In U.S. And State Laws

PASO ROBLES - At one time, the pain in Steve Bryan's back was so bad, he
decided to kill himself.

"I had the shotgun like this," Bryan said, holding an imaginary gun to his
head. "I was gonna pull the trigger."

But before he could do it, his brother stepped in and saved his life.

After that day, more than five years ago, the 55-year-old Paso Robles man
had learned to cope with his chronic back pain by smoking a couple of
marijuana joints a day.

But now he has a new problem.

About two years ago, he was arrested by federal authorities after trying to
bring 72 pounds of marijuana from Mexico into San Diego County.

On Monday, Bryan is scheduled to begin a 21-month term at the federal
prison in Lompoc.

Bryan said he had a prescription for the marijuana and - under Proposition
215 - was entitled to have it. The federal government disagreed.

"There's a law which prohibits you from bringing in controlled substances,"
said Gonzalo Curiel, chief of narcotics enforcement at the U.S. Attorney's
Office in San Diego, which charged Bryan. Bryan's case showcases the
disparity between federal and state laws with regard to the medicinal use
of marijuana.

On the one hand, Proposition 215, the well-known law passed by California
voters in 1996, allows patients to use marijuana upon the recommendation of
a physician. On the other hand, the federal government still just says no
to pot.

"I broke federal law, but I obeyed California law," Bryan said.

Bryan suffers from an intervertebral disk disease he inherited at birth.
His back problems, he said, were compounded after a couple of auto accidents.

As a result, he feels constant pain in his back and stomach and numbness in
his feet.

"It's unrelenting, man."

When a doctor told him surgery would not help, he decided to end his
suffering with a self-prescribed dose of suicide. But, after his brother
saved him, he turned to marijuana to relieve his pain.

He became a member of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, and he
obtained a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana from Berkeley physician
Tod Mikuriya.

Mikuriya has prescribed marijuana to numerous patients. "For chronic
conditions, cannabis cannot be equaled," he said.

Patients suffering from back problems, he said, experience sharp pain,
specific to the nerves. The condition reduces mobility and requires the
patient to be in warm climates.

Surgery often can't fix the problem because the joints have usually
deteriorated.

"Unfortunately, surgery has a very poor track record," he said.

While other medicines also relieve pain, marijuana is considerably cheaper,
he said. And it doesn't offer the same side-effects - like gastrointestinal
bleeding - that some alternatives cause.

Bryan said he tried other drugs, including Marinol and Codeine, but they
caused sinus problems, constipation and laryngitis.

While marijuana might seem to be risk-free - there are no documented cases
of overdosing on the drug - it is not without negative side effects, said
Dr. Wilkie Wilson, a pharmacology professor at Duke University.

"It clearly has multiple effects," said Wilson, who is the author of
"Buzzed: The Straight Facts About The Most Used and Abused Drugs From
Alcohol to Ecstacy."

While marijuana does relieve pain, he said, it can also cause anxiety and
can inhibit motor and physical functions.

"It certainly impairs learning," he said.

Even Mikuriya, who recommends marijuana, said smoking the weed can cause
bronchial problems. But, he said, the side effects with other drugs are
often worse.

In Bryan's opinion, nothing eases the pain like a joint or two.

"The marijuana gives me a will to live," said Bryan, who subscribes to
"High Times" magazine. "It gives me a feeling of well-being."

He went down to Mexico, he said, because he could buy marijuana for a
better price. His 72 pounds of cannabis, he said, cost $700 - and would
have lasted a lifetime. That same amount, he said, would have cost
thousands of dollars had he purchased it north if Tijuana.

"I thought ... I can legally go down to Mexico and get some cheap marijuana
and bring it back for myself and a lot of people that are poor like me,"
said Bryan, who is on disability.

But his plans went up in smoke when the federal government busted him and
subsequently convicted him of illegally importing marijuana.

Regardless of what Proposition 215 says, it is illegal to carry marijuana
across the border.

And it doesn't matter what the doctor ordered, said Carol Lee, the deputy
U.S. attorney who prosecuted Bryan's case.

"It's not relevant under federal law," she said.

Typically, her supervisor said, when someone intends to bring marijuana
over the border, medication is not the primary concern.

"People use a lot of excuses and defenses in that scenario," Curiel said.

Marijuana was legal in this country until 1937, when legislators and
citizens feared "reefer madness" would transform ordinary teens into
lawless heathens. In recent years, however, pot's reputation has improved.
Voters in Alaska, Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington have legalized
marijuana as a medicine.

Pro-marijuana groups hope those laws will influence national policy.

"We hope that will put some pressure on the federal government," said Gina
Pesulima, a communications director for Americans for Medical Rights, a
Santa Monica-based group that has lobbied in support of legalizing
marijuana for medicine.

Bryan admits that he has smoked marijuana for decades - since the 1960s, in
fact. But he thinks all marijuana use is medicinal.

When he goes to prison, however, he won't have his marijuana, his space
heaters or his Backsaver chair. He plans to ask for marijuana in prison,
though, and he vows to pursue legal action if the facility does not provide
his doctor-recommended drug.

"The marijuana's an important part of that pain control," he said.

He has served prison time before - on an unrelated drug conviction several
years ago - but his record was relatively clean at the time of his arrest,
according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

If he is able, he plans to continue smoking pot. After all, smoking weed,
he said, is not a crime.

And it makes him feel good.

"It's what we used to say in the '60s," Bryan said. "What's so bad about
feeling good?"