POT DEBATE HITS HOME

Midstaters who want Pennsylvania to become the 14th state to legalize
medical marijuana use rallied Saturday on the steps of the Capitol.

About 20 people marched from the Capitol to the corner of Market and
Second streets, holding signs and handing out literature on
marijuana's benefits to those suffering from cancer treatments,
glaucoma and depression.

Chuck Homan, the York-area man who organized the event, said a bill is
pending before the state Legislature -- the most restrictive proposed
to date -- that would allow Pennsylvanians to purchase small amounts
of marijuana for treatment purposes.

"When you're suffering with long-term, chronic pain, you just can't be
on pills a long time," Homan said. "The side affects are horrific --
it's unreal."

Dana Durec, 53, of McVeytown, Mifflin County, knows that first-hand.
Injured in the line of duty as a Pennsylvania state trooper, Durec had
several spinal fusions and is on a regimen of pain pills.

Durec, bearing a sign accusing lawmakers of caring more about
suffering puppies than suffering people, believes he would be
healthier, sleep more and have better pain relief if he was able to
include marijuana as a treatment option.

To date, 13 states -- including California, Maine and Vermont -- have
legalized medical marijuana.

Another seven states, including New Jersey and Delaware, have
medical-use legislation pending.

As the group progressed toward Market Street, honks of support, and
the occasional "Go home, hippies," followed them down the city blocks.

Outside the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts -- where a
home-school graduation event was just finishing -- a security guard
politely asked them to move along.