MEDICAL-POT ACTIVISTS PROTEST CONVICTION OF CO-OP FOUNDER

DRUGS: Supporters Of Martin Chavez Say Their Fight Centers On The Issue Of
Choice For The Ill.

Medical-marijuana advocates Thursday condemned the conviction of
Orange County Cannabis Co-op founder Marvin Chavez on eight drug
charges and vowed not to let their fight fade away.

Some wore cannabis-leaf leis or lit up pipes outside Orange County
Superior Court in Westminster, about 100 feet from the Police Department.

"This is a miscarriage of justice. It's not what my founding fathers
died for. This is a freedom issue," said Thomas Pollard, a landscaper
from Fountain Valley who helped secure the drug for a friend who
eventually succumbed to cancer. Pollard was a reluctant witness in
Chavez's prosecution.

"It's an issue of whether people have the (choice) of what makes them
feel better. Who can decide that for me better than me?" he asked.

Advocates hope that another local case awaiting trial will protect the
use of medicinal marijuana guaranteed under Proposition 215, passed in
1996.

The co-director of Chavez's co-op, Jack Shachter of Garden Grove, is
accused of possessing the drug with the intent to sell. Shachter said
he can prove the marijuana was his by prescription from a doctor, and
he is confident a trial will conclude in his favor.

"This is a victimless crime. There is no complainant," said patient
advocate Steve McWilliams.

McWilliams said county health officials should help ill Orange County
residents get the medicinal marijuana they need. One idea advocates
are considering: building a warehouse in the county where they could
legally raise cannabis.

Regardless of what the courts decide will be Chavez's fate, supporters
said, some patients still need marijuana to cope with pain. Legal
wrangling could continue for months, they said, but they're hurting
now.

"It's our lives, not just Marvin's," said Mira Ingram, 31, of Garden
Grove, who said she needs marijuana to ease her carpal tunnel syndrome
and the arthritis in her hands and feet.

"We're hoping with Gray Davis as governor, maybe something can pass
through the state Legislature," she said.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry