PROJECT ON POT GETS OK

Student Wins Fight Over Science Exhibit

A Belmont eighth-grader won her battle Wednesday to have her project on
medicinal marijuana entered into her school science fair, nearly two weeks
after it was banned.

The Belmont-Redwood Shores School District decided the project submitted by
Veronica Mouser, 13, met science fair guidelines and stayed within legal
bounds. The Ralston Middle School teen did not use the weed herself or
administer it to any research subjects.

"Now that we've had a chance to review the project, it's pretty clear that
this isn't outside the bounds of guidelines," said district business
director Jeff Keuscher, who investigated Veronica's complaint demanding her
project be displayed. "She's done an awful lot of work and it's a
well-documented project. It was not clear to us at the start how that could
have been done, but with her parents' assistance she's acquired a good deal
of information and collected data that allowed her to support her hypothesis."

Veronica was elated, though still miffed that the school banned it to begin
with.

"I feel like I got my point across," she said. "I'm going to enter the
science fair like everybody else and hope for the best. But I do wish they
would have looked at this with an open mind from the beginning."

Veronica's project will be entered this morning, just in time to be
included in the judging. The fair started Tuesday and ends today.

Her project has already enjoyed more of the limelight than she had
anticipated. Veronica and district Superintendent Anne Campbell appeared
Wednesday on Connie Chung's news program on CNN. The eighth-grader also
appeared on KTVU-TV (Ch. 2) in Oakland, and has been swamped with calls
from other members of the media. Dozens of medicinal-marijuana patients,
free-speech advocates, First Amendment activists and other folks have
called to praise her moxie. Ninety-year-old residents of a Sunnyvale
assisted-living home cheered for her and asked that she present her project
during their activity period.

At the center of her research, Veronica used three medicinal-marijuana
patients who logged the effects of using weed for one week to relieve pain
and nausea, and what happened when they abstained for a week. She
determined that the pot did help relieve symptoms.

Ralston Principal Deborah Ferguson banned the project Jan. 17. She said
science fair projects require experiments that Veronica could not do
because pot is still illegal under federal law, even though California has
sanctioned it for medicinal use.

Veronica and her parents filed a complaint with the district. After
Campbell reviewed Veronica's display in the privacy of her office, she
ruled there was no reason to ban it.

"I think I learned that standing up for what you believe in is really
hard," said the feisty eighth-grader, who wants to be a lawyer. "But it's
really worth it."