MARIJUANA ACTIVISTS ASSEMBLE DOWNTOWN

About 200 pro-medical marijuana activists demonstrated Thursday
outside Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office in downtown Los Angeles,
demanding he do more to end federal raids on cannabis clinics.

In a lively rally that lasted more than an hour, and was punctuated by
the smell of pot, the protesters gathered outside the Ronald Reagan
State Office Building to call on Schwarzenegger to urge the Bush
administration to tell federal drug agents to back off.

Representatives from Schwarzenegger's office were not immediately
available for comment.

Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine did not attend today's rally,
but released a statement in support of the dispensaries.

"This year has seen a dramatic increase in federal law enforcement
activity surrounding medical cannabis, including raids, confiscation
of medicine and plants, and indictments," he stated.

Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Chris Norby, who also did
not attend the rally, also expressed solidarity with the protesters
via e-mail.

Norby urged Schwarzenegger to implement Proposition 215, the ballot
initiative California voters approved in 1996 that legalized the sale
and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Marijuana is still an
illegal drug under federal law.

Opponents of medical marijuana say the dispensaries aren't regulated,
attract crime and make it easier for everyone, not just those with
serious illnesses like cancer and AIDS, to gain access to the drug.

The demonstrators protested what they called illegal and intrusive
raids conducted by federal drug agents. The demonstrators protested
what they called illegal and intrusive raids conducted by federal drug
agents.