MEDICAL MARIJUANA GROUPS POSTING ROADSIDE BILLBOARDS

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Along with roadside advertisements
for beer, liquor and fast-food, California motorists will now see billboards
promoting medical marijuana. The 30 billboards, which began appearing
Wednesday in San Francisco and across the state, feature an 8-year-old Chico
girl whose father, Bryan Epis, is serving 10 years on federal marijuana
cultivation charges.

"Medical marijuana, compassion not federal prison," read the billboards,
which are sponsored by a host of marijuana groups. They also show young
Ashley Epis holding a sign that reads: "My Dad is not a criminal."

Her photo was taken at a rally outside the federal courthouse in Sacramento
last year, where her father was sentenced for growing cannabis for a Chico
medical marijuana club.

California voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996, allowing people to use
marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. The federal government, however,
does not recognize the medical marijuana law and has been raiding California
medical pot clubs and arresting growers who say they were cultivating for
patients.

A spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration, Richard Meyer, said the
marijuana groups are "certainly entitled to express their opinions."

But he added that "marijuana has no accepted medical use" and "our job is to
enforce federal laws." Third-grader Ashley Epis said she agreed to be on the
billboard.

"I want everybody to know that my dad is not a criminal," she said.

Mike Gray, chairman of Common Sense for Drug Policy, said the campaign was
designed to "wake up the federal government."

Billboard company Clear Channel Outdoor donated the space for a month. The
marijuana groups said they paid about $20,000 for the banners. "As a
company, any unsold corporate space is donated back to the community," said
Ben Scott, the company's governmental affairs manager.