STUDENTS PIPE UP ON MEDICAL POT LEGALIZATION TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Five UC Berkeley Students Arrested in Sacramento Protest

SACRAMENTO-Five UC Berkeley students were arrested yesterday during a
protest of the federal government's ban on medical marijuana use at a
courthouse in Sacramento.

Participants blocked the Federal Courthouse's doors "as a sign of
solidarity" with those who have been jailed for possessing marijuana for
medical use, said UC Berkeley junior Scarlett Swerdlow, a rally organizer
who was one of 29 people arrested.

The demonstration followed a rally at the state Capitol attended by hundreds
from around the country, including participants from Berkeley and the
university.

"We want our state representatives to do more to protect patients and allow
them to enjoy the many different benefits of medicinal marijuana," Swerdlow
said.

Although Prop. 215, passed in 1996, allows certain California patients and
caregivers to use and cultivate marijuana for physician- recommended medical
treatment, the federal government prohibits all uses of marijuana and
thereby overrules the state proposition.

"Today we need to legalize, empower and inform," said medical marijuana
patient Carlos Lambert. "The federal government is just too lazy to put the
foot on the brake of this war on drugs."

Lambert, an Illinois resident, said he has smoked marijuana since he was 11
but began medical usage in San Francisco earlier this year to alleviate
shoulder pain and stress.

The Berkeley City Council unanimously passed a resolution in April
supporting medical use of marijuana. The resolution also instructed the
Berkeley Police Department not to cooperate with Drug Enforcement
Administration investigations.

But other lawmakers said they do not support allowing citizens to legally
use marijuana.

Assemblymember Dave Cox, R-Sacramento, "has been long opposed to the use of
marijuana," said Peter DeMarco, Cox's spokesperson.

"Certainly we've compassion for our ill, but the laws of the land are pretty
clear," DeMarco said.

Protesters said they knew they would likely be arrested before they held the
demonstration.

Those arrested at the demonstration were taken to a holding pen in the
courthouse before being released in the afternoon, Swerdlow said.

"We've demonstrated a presence in the state and the escalation of concern
about this issue," said Berkeley resident Stef Sharer, executive director of
Americans for Safe Access and a participant who was also arrested. "We've
demonstrated that students and patients and mothers and wives are ready to
sit in front of (federal) courthouse doors and ask for the release of
(medicinal marijuana users) in jail."

National advocacy groups organized the rally and demonstration, including
Berkeley-based Americans for Safe Access, the American Alliance for Medical
Cannabis and Students for a Sensible Drug Policy.

"It was a really big success," said UC Berkeley senior Ian Ackerman, who is
set to be sworn in as an ASUC senator for the FREE WEED! party Wednesday.
"Hopefully we've sent a message to policy makers that we're serious about
what we've voted for and won't be taken for granted."

David Krantz of The Daily Californian staff contributed to this report.