NEWLAND COMPLETES STATE BICYCLE TOUR

SIOUX FALLS -- A Hermosa man completed a cross-state bicycle tour to
try to gather signatures to put a medical marijuana measure on the 2006 ballot.

Longtime activist Bob Newland pedaled into Sioux Falls on Tuesday
night after logging 440 miles and gathering 250 signatures along the
Matthew Ducheneaux Trail to Safe Access Bicycle Tour Across South Dakota.

The petitions need about 17,000 signatures by May 2006 to get on the
2006 ballot. Newland said his target is 20,000 to provide a cushion
for invalid signatures.

"We have a year," he said. "My plan is to find 100 people who will
each get 200 signatures."

The day after Newland's June 5 departure from Rapid City, the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that people who smoke marijuana for medical
reasons can be prosecuted for violating federal drug laws.

Newland said many South Dakotans along the route already knew about
his cause because of news coverage and the high court's decision.

"Actually, I picked up $200 in contributions the first three days,
and people were stopping me to sign the petition, and people were
offering me weed," Newland said.

Newland named his trek after Ducheneaux, a quadriplegic from Eagle
Butte who used marijuana to ease chronic pain from muscle spasms and
died May 23.

In 2000, Sioux Falls police arrested Ducheneaux for marijuana
possession. A magistrate judge had agreed to let him argue that he
needed the substance for medical reasons, but a circuit judge
overruled that decision. The state Supreme Court unanimously upheld
his conviction in 2003.

On a typical day, Newland rode about 25 miles before stopping in a town.

After six hours fighting headwinds and dragging 120 pounds of
luggage, his next stop was typically a tavern.

"Going to a tavern to get signatures on the medical marijuana
petition is like shooting fish in a barrel," said Newland, noting he
would often get 10 or 20 patrons to sign.

Newland said he will continue gathering signatures at the upcoming
Black Hills Heritage Festival in Rapid City. He also plans to lobby
at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, although most visitors will be out-of-staters.

A South Dakota medical marijuana bill was killed 11-1 in a House
committee in January.

But Newland, after meeting with scores of people along his bicycle
route, said he is confident a state measure will pass if it gets on the ballot.

"Getting it on the ballot is a given, provided we do the detail work,
which is actually get the signatures," he said.