NEW D.A. WON WITH REBEL IMAGE

The rule of law seems to have a weak hold in this county of spectacular
forests, canyons, rocky coastal cliffs and some of the finest marijuana in
the world.

In Mendocino County, pot is the biggest cash crop and the new district
attorney is an ex-con.

"People tell me one of two things," District Attorney-elect Norman Vroman
said. "It's either 'I wish I had the guts to do what you did against the
IRS,' or it's 'How in world do you believe you can be the top prosecutor if
you've served time in federal prison?' "

Vroman, a lawyer, served nine months behind bars during the early 1990s for
not paying several thousand dollars in income taxes.

Running on a platform that included decriminalization of marijuana, Vroman
defeated a three-term incumbent who was president-elect of the California
District Attorney Association.

This rugged county of 87,000 people 100 miles north of San Francisco also
elected a new sheriff, Tony Craver, who backs decriminalization.

In Vroman's case, voters were displeased with the incumbent's handling of a
big murder case in which a sheriff's deputy searching for a suspect was
shot to death. The defendant was acquitted, and Vroman was quoted as saying
he would not retry the case.

A rebel in office But the folksy and engaging Vroman also was seen
admiringly as a rebel. Craver has a blunt, genial manner that went over
well with people here and he was seen as having deeper roots in the county
than the previous sheriff, who spent a decade in Los Angeles County.

The stance the two men have taken on marijuana figured in both campaigns in
this county of mountain folk, ex-hippies, yuppies and refugees from big
cities.

"It was a hot issue. Up until now, there has been a 'don't ask, don't tell'
policy. They have not harassed us, but on the other hand, they have not
cooperated with us," said Marvin Lehrman, who runs a 200-member medical
marijuana club. "Vroman's slogan was 'It's time for a change,' and that's
what we want."

A lanky, mustachioed, by-the-book sheriff's officer, Craver, 61, has busted
drug dealers and growers for years in an area where the famously potent
marijuana retails for $5,000 a pound.

But he also believes marijuana use should be decriminalized.
Decriminalization could reduce marijuana use from a misdemeanor under state
law, which can bring a jail term, to the equivalent of a traffic offense,
which normally carries only a fine.

Commercial growers and traffickers should be prosecuted, but "if you light
up a joint in your home, who are you hurting?" Craver said.

However, both he and Vroman said their personal views on marijuana use
would not affect their official duties.

"It's illegal. If he arrests them, I'll prosecute them," Vroman said.

Marijuana central Mendocino County has produced more marijuana since 1995
than any of California's 57 other counties.

Last year, state and local agents in helicopters and ground squads raided
340 pot plantations in Mendocino County and seized $204 million worth of
weed. Authorities believe that for every plant they find, there are perhaps
10 more out there.

The county's isolated hollows are ideal for secret pot gardens that yield
marijuana highly prized by aficionados.

"It's considered about the best in the world, if not the best. It's about
10 to 25 times more potent than the marijuana of the 1960s," State Justice
Department spokesman Mike Van Winkle said.

Vroman, who said he moved to Mendocino County in 1975 to escape the
pressures of Southern California, has worked as a prosecutor, a fill-in
judge, a defense lawyer and a public defender. In fact, the last three
district attorneys in Mendocino County also had been public defenders.

"I don't know whether it's because people are suspicious of authority, but
I think a lot of it has to do with people not wanting the D.A. to be tough
on lightweight crimes. They don't like wasting money," said George McClure
of Ukiah.

Vroman has piled up $1.3 million in tax liens and has filed for bankruptcy
twice.

"They cited the Internal Revenue Service Code, but there is no law that
says you have to file a return," he said. "They use fear. That's how the
IRS works."

Checked-by: derek rea