SUPPORTER'S CANNABIS PITCH FAILS TO TAKE ROOT WITH COUNCIL MEMBERS

Dion Markgraaff's idea went up in smoke as quickly as it was presented to
the San Diego City Council yesterday.

In the span of three minutes, Markgraaff demanded that council members
declare a state of emergency, come up with a policy on helping sick people
who need medical marijuana and, well, that they get a load from his
exhibits.

Markgraaff passed out T-shirts and newspapers promoting cannabis. He handed
over hemp oil. Then, he produced a bag of hemp seeds.

Befuddled city clerks thought the bag contained plain old marijuana.
Police arrived. The pseudo-pot was confiscated.

As it turned out, the seeds had been sterilized and can't grow, which makes
them legal. Council members did not take action on Markgraaff's requests.

Hemp, which grows wild throughout the world, is a type of cannabis plant
that is used to make rope, paper and other products. It has little of the
intoxicating substance found in more potent types of marijuana.

Markgraaff is free on bail awaiting trial in one of the county's first
tests of voter-approved Proposition 215, the medical marijuana measure. He
addressed the council during the public comment portion of yesterday's
council meeting.

Even seen-it-all council observers couldn't recall a similar episode.

Markgraaff, 28, an SDSU political science and history graduate, says he was
just trying to "plant the seed of a little bit of knowledge."

An indignant Councilman Juan Vargas left his seat, grabbed one of the
T-shirts and handed it back to Markgraaff in the audience.

"I won't be needing this," Vargas told him.

"Well, then do your job," Markgraaff shot back.

It's a good thing the seeds didn't spill onto the carpet, quipped City
Clerk Chuck Abdelnour. The carpet is so bad, the seeds might have taken
root there.

Copyright 1998 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.