POT-SMOKING ADVOCATE SEEKS JUDGE'S OKAY

A medical marijuana advocate charged with growing more than 4,000 pot
plants in a rented Bel-Air mansion asked a federal judge Wednesday to let
him smoke marijuana pending his trial.

Todd McCormick said he needs marijuana to ease pain related to a rare form
of cancer that was diagnosed when he was a child but is now in remission.
He claims a California law allows him to smoke pot for medicinal use.

McCormick, 27, was among five people arrested July 29 when Los Angeles
County sheriff's investigators raided the mansion he rented for $6,000 a
month. They found 4,116 marijuana plants growing throughout the home and on
a deck.