AIMING FOR A HIGH GROUND

A gadfly sought jail over Irish pot laws

GALWAY, Ireland - Knowing that the Irish love martyrs, Ming the Merciless
was determined to go to jail for his beliefs, and his strongest-held belief
is that marijuana should be legalized.

And so last month, the former Luke Flanagan, who legally changed his name
to that of a character in the Flash Gordon comic strip, smoked one last
joint and set off for the police station. He had been convicted and fined
$225 for possession of marijuana, but refused to pay, saying he would
rather accept the alternative, 15 days in jail, to make a principled
protest.

Unknown to Ming, however, his father had paid the fine. The police told him
to go home.

On an island full of political prisoners who would do anything to get out,
the only one who wanted to get in could not.

''You can't plan for fathers,'' Ming said, shrugging.

Compared with Ireland, the campaign to legalize marijuana in neighboring
Britain is mainstream, with influential individuals, including the business
magnate Richard Branson, and institutions, such as The Independent
newspaper, actively
lobbying to change the law. But despite its growing secularism and
sophistication, Ireland remains the most socially conservative country in
Europe. Championing the legalization of marijuana here is a lonely,
quixotic task. If anyone tilts at windmills, however, it's Ming the
Merciless, a 26-year-old cult figure whose name derives from his shaved
head, goatee, and wispy sideburns.

Last spring, he ran for the Dail, Ireland's parliament, on a platform that
also called for rent control, increased benefits for college students, and
better treatment of welfare recipients. He was the subject of a low-budget,
award-winning documentary, but he got only 548 votes, finishing 12th in a
field of 13.

''I finished ahead of the Natural Law Party,'' he noted proudly.

His name leads many to not take him seriously. But if he's crazy, he's
crazy like a fox. When he changed his name before the election, he was told
he had to have a ''normal'' surname on the application. He put down
Alexander because it placed him first on the ballot.

''It's statistically proven you get more votes when your name is listed
first,'' he says.

It is also statistically proven, he says, that alcohol causes far more
problems in Ireland than any other mind-altering substance, and
scientifically proven that marijuana can help those suffering from AIDS,
cancer, cataracts, and other ailments.

The way Ming sees it: ''There is a drug problem in Ireland - it's alcohol
and pharmaceuticals handed out by doctors for depression. I'm not big into
conspiracy theories; but if cannabis was legalized, 25 percent of what the
pharmaceutical industry produces wouldn't be needed, and the alcohol
industry would lose money, too.''

Ming doesn't drink caffeine, but he does drink beer and says it is rich
that at the urinal of his local pub there is a foot mat advising drinkers
who are relieving themselves: ''Don't Do Drugs.''

He has been a regular pot smoker for eight years, and he took up running to
prove it does not adversely affect his health. He ran his first marathon
last year in a very respectable 3 hours and 20 minutes. He plans to run
marathons this year in Amsterdam, where it is legal to smoke marijuana, and
London.

Ming plans to run for the European Parliament next year. One of his likely
opponents is Dana, a devout Catholic singer who hosts an evangelical talk
show on a Catholic cable television station, and who ran for president last
year.

And while some say Ming was humiliated by his father's payment of the fine that
defeated Ming's attempt to become a prisoner of conscience, he says it has
improved his political stock.

''It proves I have a father,'' he said ''Unlike most politicians, I'm not a
bastard.''

Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company.