MEDICAL POT COLLECTIVE SPLITS RETIREMENT COMMUNITY

Laguna Woods, Orange County -- Joe Schwartz is a 90-year-old
great-grandfather of three who enjoys a few puffs of pot each night
before he crawls into bed.

The World War II veteran, who smokes the drug to ease debilitating
nausea, is one of about 150 senior citizens on a sprawling,
18,000-person gated campus who belong to a thriving medical marijuana
collective in one of America's largest retirement communities.

The fledgling collective mirrors a nationwide trend as more senior
citizens turn to marijuana, legal or not, to ease the aches and pains of aging.

But in Laguna Woods Village, these ganja-smoking grandparents have
stirred up a heated debate with their collective, attracting a
crackdown from within the self-governed community.

Many members of the 2-year-old collective keep a low profile, but
others grow seedlings on their patios and set up workshops to show
other seniors how to turn the marijuana leaves into tea, milk and a
vapor that can be inhaled to relieve ailments from
chemotherapy-related nausea to multiple sclerosis and arthritis.

The most recent project involves getting collective members to plant
40 seeds from experimental varieties of marijuana that are said to
have anti-inflammatory properties best suited for elderly ailments.

Under California law, people with a variety of conditions, from
migraines to cancer, can get a written doctor's recommendation for
medical marijuana and join a pot collective to get what they need or
grow their own supply. All the members of Laguna Woods Village's
collective are legal users under state law.

Susan Margolis, who sat on an advisory committee at the complex, said
the debate has divided people along generational lines in a community
where the average age is 78 but new residents can move in at 55. She
estimated that up to 10 of her younger neighbors take medical pot for
ailments but said many older residents are fiercely opposed.