POT SUMMIT COMES TO DELAVEAGA

Don't Expect To Burn One Down, It's A Meet-And-Greet Event

SANTA CRUZ -- If you've got the munchies, DeLaveaga Park is the place to be
Saturday.

From noon to 5 p.m. at Lone Tree picnic area, marijuana supporters will
meet for the local celebration of the Million Marijuana March.

There, the UC Santa Cruz chapters of the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws and Students for Sensible Drug Policy will host a
barbecue they hope will be an opportunity for members of the local
marijuana community to come together and meet each other.

"We'd like people to see they're not so alone, especially if they're
medical marijuana patients," said local SSDP member Daniel Bear, a senior
at UCSC.

The Santa Cruz picnic is one of 200 gatherings in 37 countries to celebrate
the Million Marijuana March. New York-based pot advocacy group Cures Not
Wars first organized the international event about 30 years ago.

"It's been so criminalized that people are sort of in the closet about it,"
said Ritika Aggarwal, a UCSC junior and founder of the school's NORML
chapter. "This is their chance to step out."

The focus will be on socializing, not politics, said Bear. As well as food,
his group is bringing Frisbees, footballs and lawn bowling sets.

The picnic will also be an opportunity to prepare for the Supreme Court
ruling in the case Raich v. Ashcroft, Aggarwal said. At stake is the
federal government's authority over marijuana grown and used legally
according to state and local laws.

If the Supreme Court rules in favor of former U.S. Attorney General John
Ashcroft -- the decision may come later this month -- one casualty could be
the pot farm run by Santa Cruz's Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana.

In 2002, Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided the farm, tearing up
150 plants just weeks before the annual harvest. The farm is currently
protected by a federal judge's injunction, making it the only legal
marijuana farm in the country.

But "their injunction will be dropped in 60 days if this comes down
negative," Aggarwal said.

Valerie Corral, WAMM founder, will not be able to attend the picnic, but
said it will be a great meet-and-greet opportunity and "maybe to dispel the
mythology that has been erroneously assigned to the use of some drugs."

Those coming shouldn't count on showing up to a cloud of pot smoke.

"This is a family friendly event," Bear said. "I have no doubt that someone
will spark up, but we are going to ask them not to. We aren't baking any
special brownies, we aren't handing out any joints when you show up."