PROTESTERS HOPE TO SNUFF OUT LAWS AGAINST MARIJUANA USE

They smoke marijuana, and they don't care who knows it.

Friday evening Chase Cookson stood along Massachusetts Street in South Park
and waved a sign that said "Marijuana User -- Not Criminal." Nearly two
dozen fellow Kansas University students stood with him, waving signs with
similar phrases.

"We're just trying to let people know there are different kinds of folks
who are consumers of marijuana," said Cookson, a Wichita junior. "We could
be your brother, son, father or next-door neighbor."

The students, members of the KU Chapter of Students for Sensible Drug
Policy, dubbed their protest of marijuana laws "cannabis liberation." They
later walked down the sidewalk along Massachusetts Street so people
downtown could see them.

Cookson said he disagreed with those who say smoking marijuana leads to use
of more dangerous drugs such as crack cocaine or heroin. 4219dac.jpg "I
know plenty of people who have smoked marijuana and did not move on to
other drugs," said Cookson, who favors legalized use of small amounts of
marijuana.

Steve Ducey, an Overland Park sophomore, agreed. He held up a sign that
read "Pot Smoking Does Not Make Me a Criminal."

Several passing motorists gave the group the thumbs-up sign and honked
their horns in a show of support.

"We're getting great response," Ducey said. "It makes me feel pretty happy
about that."

Ducey said one of the supporting motorists had a military veteran's license
tag and another was a woman driving a minivan with children in it.

Coming by to give his moral support to the students was attorney David
Whinery, who also favors some legalized marijuana use.

Whinery said he'd seen a lot of young people "get ruined" because they got
caught with a small amount of marijuana. They couldn't get jobs or student
loans, he said.

Whinery said he understood strong laws against crack and other harder
drugs, but said "marijuana is pretty innocuous."