A JOINT MILITARY MANEUVER

Patrolling in Iraq a couple of months ago, Army Spec. Carlos Arellano,
a reservist and rapper from California, happened upon what he called
"this beauty waving in the wind" -- a marijuana plant just starting to
blossom. He resisted the temptation to "confiscate" and smoke the
weed, he says, but was pleased to pose for a photo that's just hit the
cover of High Times's spinoff magazine Grow America with the headline,
"Buds Over Baghdad." This week the pro-pot publication is sending the
image to all members of Congress, saying it's proud to finally provide
lawmakers with an uplifting picture from Iraq.

"It's a life-affirming shot as opposed to a death-affirming shot,"
says Rick Cusick, ad director of Grow America. "He's happy to be there
with that bud. It's also in counterpoint to those photos of our
soldiers holding Iraqis by dog leashes. This is a psychic relief in a
lot of ways."

A combat infantryman who goes by the nickname "Singe," the 27-year-old
Arellano comes across in the mag's profile as a patriotic pothead. He
doesn't cop to smoking dope in Iraq and offers a sobering view of the
conflict in postings on his band's Web site, dankmobb.com. "I'm glad
I'm here," he writes, but also warns: "It's a madhouse out here. I
don't think this place will ever return to a stable condition." In
April, "one of our bases was overrun the other night by over 1,000 of
the enemy."

Isn't Singe worried about being burned by the publicity? "It's been a
dream of mine to be on a cover," he told the magazine. "You gotta love
this place at times -- High Times, that is!"