CALIF. POT COUNTRY'S NEW LEADERS ARE WEED-FRIENDLIER

UKIAH, Calif.--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," said District Attorney-elect
Norman Vroman. "It's either, 'I wish I had the guts to do what you did
against the IRS,' or it's 'How in the 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 failing to pay several thousand dollars in income taxes.
Vroman has piled up $1.3 million in tax liens and 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."

On Nov. 3, Vroman, running on a platform that included
decriminalization of marijuana, 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.

But the folksy and engaging Vroman also was seen admiringly as a
rebel. And Craver has a blunt, genial manner and was seen as having
deeper roots in the county than the previous sheriff, who spent a
decade in Los Angeles County.

The two men's stance 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."

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 an estimated $204 million worth of weed. Authorities
believe that for every plant they find, there are perhaps 10 more out
there.

A lanky, mustachioed, by-the-book sheriff's officer, the 61-year-old
Craver has arrested 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
will not affect their official duties.

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

Checked-by: Patrick Henry