THIS BUD'S FOR THEM

Pot-Smokers Gather at San Francisco Conference Of Marijuana-Advocacy Group.

SAN FRANCISCO - Elvy Musikka lives in a pot-smoker's dream: She's one of
seven people in the United States who receive prerolled marijuana
cigarettes each month from the federal government as part of a drug study.

No wonder she was smiling Thursday, hobnobbing at the Cathedral Hill Hotel
in San Francisco with hundreds of others who share her quest to legalize
the leaf.

Through today, the hotel is the place to be for marijuana enthusiasts, as
the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws holds its annual
conference in what the organization's Web site calls "America's most
hemp-friendly city."

The scent was pungent, the dress casual to hippie and the faces friendly
Thursday outside the conference rooms, where tables offered novelties such
as Oaksterdam sweatshirts for $27, $5 hemp-shaped lapel pins and, of
course, matches and cigarette lighters.

Richard Lee, who runs the SR71 medicinal-marijuana dispensary in Oakland,
was selling the Oaksterdam gear. "SR71 was the first stealth plane and,
until recently, the highest-flying plane," he said. "Mine is the
highest-flying coffee shop."

Lee's is one of just four medicinal-marijuana dispensaries in Oakland,
where officials decided last year to weed out the city's share of
medicinal-pot clubs.

Allen St. Pierre, executive director of NORML, said it was exciting to land
in town at a time when medical marijuana is on the political agenda.

Referring to Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who started his day Thursday
officially welcoming NORML to San Francisco, St. Pierre said, "When someone
like Ross sticks his hand out and says - 'We want to work with you. We want
to do things differently.' - we have arrived."

Mirkarimi's comments drew a standing ovation.

After, he said: "I was being offered various baked goods. I received a
couple of T-shirts and hats made out of hemp. I declined the baked goods,
by the way.

"It was very surreal."

Sixty-five-year-old Musikka, who was born with cataracts and uses her
federally supplied marijuana to help relieve pressure in her eyes, said
that she had tried the drug 25 years ago at the urging of a doctor even
though she was afraid of its effects.

Now, Musikka said: "It's the fountain of youth. There isn't even an aspirin
in my medicine cabinet. There is no need."

And she wants to spread the word.

"To arrest an adult for choosing the 'wiser bud' is the epitome of
hypocrisy," she said.

There weren't any arrests Thursday.

Lee and his companions who took a break to light up outside the hotel were
just part of the landscape of the joint.