MEDICAL POT ADVOCATES TAKE AIM AT LAWMAKER

Protesters call Rogan's vote against marijuana purely political. Glendale
Republican says he still supports drug's use for terminally ill.

Three years after supporting state legislation to legalize the medical use
of marijuana, Rep. James E. Rogan has come under attack by medical
marijuana advocates for backing a congressional resolution opposing any use
of the drug.

Several dozen medical marijuana advocates protested Monday at Rogan's
Pasadena office and at his headquarters in Washington, D.C., where two
protesters were arrested after one ate marijuana leaves outside Rogan's
office. The protesters targeted Rogan (R-Glendale) because they say he has
reversed his position since being elected to Congress.

"This is a great example of hypocrisy," said Jim Rosenfield, organizer of
the protest.

Despite voting for a resolution that opposes legalizing marijuana for
medicinal uses, Rogan said he has not changed his position and continues to
support the use of marijuana for terminally ill patients.

Rogan--a former prosecutor and municipal court judge--noted that the
resolution that he and members of the House Judiciary Committee supported
was a nonbinding motion, expressing the panel's opinion. It was not
enforceable legislation, he said.

To clarify his position, Rogan said he publicly stated his support for a
limited use of marijuana before voting to support the resolution. He
conceded that he could have voted against the resolution or abstain because
he did not agree with it entirely, but he said he felt it was enough to
publicly express his opinion.

"I didn't want to vote against a resolution that I agreed with 99%," he said.

The issue is a personal one for Rogan, whose cousin suffered from cancer
and used marijuana to counter the effects of chemotherapy for several
years. He later died.

In 1995, when Rogan was a top-ranking Republican in the Assembly, he broke
from his party to provide a key vote in support of a bill to legalize the
medical use of marijuana. The bill by Assemblyman John Vasconcellos, a
Santa Clara Democrat, allowed people to possess and grow marijuana for
themselves or immediate family members with a written prescription from a
doctor. The bill was later vetoed by Gov. Pete Wilson.

Rogan, elected to Congress to represent parts of Pasadena, Glendale and
Burbank in 1996, voted along with other Republican members of the Judiciary
Committee to support a resolution that says the "House of Representatives
is unequivocally opposed to legalizing marijuana for medical use and urges
the defeat of state initiatives which would seek to legalize marijuana for
medicinal use." The entire Congress is expected to consider the resolution
next month.

Rosenfield called Rogan's vote for the resolution a "purely political
stand" and accused Rogan of reversing his position on marijuana to keep
with his party's position. "For him to sign off on a bill that says
marijuana has no medical use, that doesn't make sense to me," Rosenfield
said.

The 30 or so protesters in Pasadena included members of the Cannabis
Freedom Fund, a North Hollywood-based drug policy group.

The protesters in Washington included members of the Marijuana Policy
Project, a political advocacy group based in Washington. At the Washington
protest, Cheryl Miller, 51, of Silverton, N.J., and her husband, Jim, were
arrested on possession of marijuana after Jim Miller fed his wife marijuana
leaves in front of Rogan's office.

Cheryl Miller has suffered from multiple sclerosis since 1971. Her husband
fed her the leaves because she cannot move her arms. Both were later
released on their own recognizance.

Copyright Los Angeles Times