SMOKEOUT DRAWS THOUSANDS

The Cypress Hill Smokeout music festival Saturday at the National
Orange Show in San Bernardino was as much about marijuana as it was
about music.

Hip-hop and Latin groups shared the stage with DJs, while advocates of
medical marijuana and Prop.19, the California ballot measure to
legalize marijuana for adults, extolled the virtues of pot while also
registering new voters.

K.T. Howard of Oceanside, a supporter of Prop. 19, said she attended
the festival to support the ballot measure as much as to hear the music.

"It's a good lineup," Howard said.

The bands took to the stage at three locations just after the gates
opened at noon. Early in the show, hundreds of concertgoers moved
between the areas as they listened to the groups such as Living
Legends, Pablo Hasan and Los Rakas.

The festival, which was expected to end at 2 a.m., included
performances by Cypress Hill, Incubus -- which has not performed in
the United States in 18 months -- and Atmosphere, which rarely hits
the concert stage, organizers said.

About 40,000 people were expected to attend, said John Duran of
Guerilla Union, the festival promoter.

"It's a full-day experience for everyone," Duran said.

As of 9 p.m., about 10 people had been arrested, one on suspicion of
felony assault on a police officer, and the rest on possession of
marijuana, public drunkenness and hit and run, all misdemeanors, said
San Bernardino police Lt. David Harp.

For medical marijuana users, there were two areas set up for
consumption of cannabis. Both were fenced off from the public, and
wristbands indicating the wearer is a medical marijuana user were
required to get inside.

In a pavilion, about a dozen booths were set up at what was called a
medical marijuana expo. Vendors sold everything from clothing to pipes
and bongs for smoking marijuana.

In one corner, a medical doctor set up a booth to consult with and
evaluate people seeking authorization to use medical marijuana, and to
issue the recommendation if one is necessary.

Across the aisle, advocates of Prop. 19 handed out information on the
proposition and registered voters. Among them was Michael Howard of
Glendale, who also carried a placard outside the pavilion advocating
passage of Prop. 19 and registering voters.

"I came from New York to help work on this," Howard
said.

But some were not that concerned about the proposition.

Laura Cerda and boyfriend Hugo Duenas arrived in midafternoon from
South Gate with one thing on their minds.

"We're just here to watch the bands," Cerda said.