MIKURIYA CASE- IT'S THE JUDGE'S TURN

Tod Mikuriya, MD, spent six hours on the witness stand Sept. 24 getting
cross-examined on his treatment of 17 patients by Assistant Attorney
General Larry Mercer. The exchanges took on a pattern. Had Mikuriya taken
Patient A's blood pressure? No. Had he checked Patient B's right-shoulder
range of motion? No... Occasionally the Berkeley psychiatrist would throw
in "My role is to establish whether he had a condition that would qualify
him to use cannabis under Health & Safety Code 11362.5."

The Medical Board of California accused Mikuriya of failing the 17
patients, not by approving their use of cannabis, -which is indisputably
legal under the law created by Prop 215- but by conducting cursory
examinations.

Mikuriya contends that his examinations are perfectly adequate, given the
finite purpose for which patients consult him. He calls the prosecution "a
vengeful operation that can be traced to former Attorney General Dan
Lungren and a coven of rural-county sheriffs and district attorneys who
opposed Prop 215 and resent the fact that my letters of approval have made
certain citizens in their jurisdictions immune to arrest and prosecution."

Before Mikuriya stepped down Administrative Law Judge Jonathan Lew asked
him a single, poignant question: "If there were a finding that your
practice standards should be modified, would you be willing to do so?"

Mikuriya said "Absolutely." A major irony of the case is that Mikuriya has
been urging since 1997 that the Medical Board issue guidelines for
practices such as his.

Lew will now be briefed by the lawyers -a six-week process- and take
another month or so to make his "recommended decision" to the Board, which
has the final say on whether -and if so, how-to sanction California's
foremost proponent of cannabis therapeutics.

B.E. Smith Wants Your Vote

B.E. Smith came back from Vietnam and drank to excess for a couple of years
until he discovered that marijuana enabled him to sleep at night and cope
by day. He worked as a timber faller and contractor. After Prop 215 passed
he grew 87 plants for himself and a few other documented patients on land
rented from a friend in Trinity County. He was tried in federal court in
May, 1999. After being denied the right to cite medical use and California
law, he was convicted and spent two years in prison. His campaign statement
is excerpted below:

So, what will I do if elected Governor? I intend to use the pardon powers
of the California Constitution and shall issue a pardon to all persons
convicted of a victimless crime, such as growing, selling or using
marijuana or similar substances, including those persons now serving prison
terms for such convictions. Furthermore, I do not intend to see such
victimless crimes prosecuted while I am Governor.

While I will see that real crimes are prosecuted vigorously, I will not
spend the resources of Californians chasing phantom crimes, that is,
innocent acts that the legislators make into crimes merely to show that
they are "tough on crime," so they can get votes to keep themselves in
office. I will free up millions of tax dollars from these phantom crimes to
be spent on chasing real criminals, as well as providing better education
for our children.

I will also seek voluntary rollback of the outrageous energy contracts my
predecessors have saddled us with. I assure you, we will roll back these
unconscionable contracts voluntarily, or I will have the courts help us
roll back these shameful contracts. One way or the other, I will spearhead
a drive to push back the enormous financial pressures that have put this
State on the verge of financial ruin.

Will these measures be popular with the big boys in business or the
legislature? No! Do I care? No! What I care about is the crushing costs
borne by the average Californian for the financial mismanagement bordering
on criminal recklessness which has squeezed money from the pockets of every
Californian.

I must accomplish the People's will in an instant, because there will not
be a second chance. Anybody who thinks a Californian like me, elected from
among the common People, will survive politically to be elected to a second
term of office is due for a lobotomy. The great business and political
powers who lust for control of the enormous wealth and vitality of this
State will organize like we've never seen before, and will vilify,
castigate and crucify whoever puts the will of the People into action, so
that these great powers and political forces may once more pluck and
plunder the treasures of the golden State.

I have only two things going for me: (1) I have no reputation to maintain,
except the reputation of one who is devoted to the Constitutions of
California and the United States, embodying, as they do, the common rights
of the People bought at the price of blood and treasure throughout the long
course of history of this Nation, and (2) I owe no promises to any unseen
business or political forces on this earth, except to you, the People of
California.

Today, because of the monumental mismanagement of the State's affairs by
Gray Davis and his predecessors, we face an opportunity never before
experienced in any State of the Union: to elect a Governor from among the
common People of this great State, an opportunity that we may never see
again, at least not in the lifetimes of most of us.

I intend to use all the strength God has given me and all the powers vested
in the Office of Governor by the People of this State, for the common good
and welfare of the Citizens and residents of California.

As a symbol of my faith and loyalty to the common People, I intend to spend
at least two nights each month in the home of some poor Californian with
little or no political influence, or as a inmate in one of our prisons or
jails, as a symbol of my care and concern for those most forgotten among
our People. Most California prisoners will leave the prison system one day.
I intend to do all I can to see that they are better people, more
productive members of our society, and to the degree possible,
rehabilitated for their own good, as well as for ours.

I spent 24 months among federal prisoners, and I can tell you from personal
experience that, while there certainly are some beyond help, many, many of
them are good and productive people who may have taken a wrong turn, but
are no more beyond redemption than the prodigal son mentioned in a parable
some 2,000 years ago.

I intend to hold regular town-hall meetings with the citizens and residents
of this State, to listen to the cries and pleas of those who cannot afford
to hire their own private lobbyists in Sacramento. Your concerns, your
heartaches, your needs, your concerns will be on my heart and in my agenda
always.

If you are a felon and not on parole, I urge you to register to vote, help
others register, talk to your friends and relatives and put a man from
among the common People in the Governor's chair for a season. Do it
quickly, steadily and persistently, so that the big boys will never see us
coming.

It is time for us to rise up and take back the reins of government from the
big business and political interests who have despoiled our State. Let us
rise up as a great People, and see Babylon the Great fall, in one hour, the
hour when you, the common People of California take back the powers of
government by the simple, but profound act of voting for one of your own to
be Governor of California.

I will bear true faith and allegiance to you, the People, for all the days
you choose to have me exercise the sacred powers entrusted by you in me as
your Governor.