Pot Advocate Plans To Challenge Lungren In '98 Governor's Race

Glen Martin, Chronicle Staff Writer

Medical marijuana advocate Dennis Peron will announce his
intentions to run for governor in the 1998 Republican
primary ``within a few days'' his aides say, putting him
headtohead with his arch nemesis, Attorney General Dan
Lungren.

Rumors have circulated for the past few days that the
diminutive pothuffing Peron would challenge Lungren, but
the scuttlebutt was not confirmed until yesterday.

``I can say that he is a registered Republican and plans to
run,'' said John Entwistle, Peron's secondincommand at the
club. ``He is prepared to declare his candidacy any day now,
because he wants to give Republican voters a choice.''

Peron could not be reached for direct comment because he is
vacationing in Death Valley.

``He was supposed to be home by now but his car blew up,''
Entwistle said. ``He doesn't really care he loves Death
Valley.''

There is a certain irony to Peron's candidacy. Peron's club
was busted last August by state narcotics agents, and he was
charged with possessing and cultivating marijuana. Then he
helped draft Proposition 215, the state initiative passed by
voters in November legalizing medical use of marijuana.

A civil trial on some of the counts will begin on August 18
in San Francisco. A criminal trial will commence in Oakland,
probably in September. Peron will face state prosecutors
directed by Lungren in both cases.

A palpable enmity has existed between the two men since the
arrests, with Peron sniping at Lungren at every opportunity,
and the attorney general responding to Peron's broadsides
with acid comments of his own.

Lungren is considered a shoe in for the Republican
nomination.

Entwistle said Peron represents a progressive choice for
Republicans uncomfortable with Lungren's bedrock
conservatism.

``(Lungren) is a man who is against everything we stand
for,'' said Entwistle. ``He wants to defund abortion. He
absolutely hates marijuana.''

Lungren doesn't appear particularly distressed at the
prospect of Peron throwing his hat into the ring.

``If Dennis Peron is running for governor on the Republican
ticket, he has smoked more marijuana than even I thought,''
Lungren said.

But Entwistle cautions Lungren not to get too cocky, and
vowed that Peron would hit the hustings hard.

``Proposition 215 got more votes than (Lungren) did in the
last election,'' Entwistle said. ``Dennis is a business
owner, and he has a natural Republican constituency out
there highlyeducated, upper income people who don't
appreciate unwarranted government intrusion.''

Entwistle cheerfully admitted that the Peron for Governor
campaign has little in the way of funds.

``A minor thing like that isn't going to stop us,'' he
scoffed. ``We were broke when we were campaigning for
Proposition 215. But we plugged at it, and at the last
minute some people with bucks jumped on board. We figure it
will happen again.''

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