IN CALIFORNIA COUNTY, POT IS NO. 1 CASH CROP AND AN EX-CON IS DA

UKIAH, California (AP) -- The rule of law seems to have a weak hold on
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 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 in the early 1990s
for failing to pay several thousand dollars in income taxes.

Last week, 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 also 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 won't retry the case.

Rebel territory

But the folksy and engaging Vroman also was seen admiringly as a
rebel. And Craver has a blunt, genial manner that went over well with
people 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."

A lanky, mustachioed, by-the-book sheriff's officer, the 61-year-old
Craver 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.

Duty calls

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

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

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,
perhaps 10 more are 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,"
said state Justice Department spokesman Mike Van Winkle.

Suspicious people

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 attorney and a public defender. In fact, the
last three district attorneys in Mendocino County had also 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 DA to be
tough on lightweight crimes. They don't like wasting money," said
retiree George McClure of Ukiah.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady