SANTA CRUZ DEFIES DEA ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

SANTA CRUZ - Christopher Krohn, mayor of this laid-back beach town, wore
his pinstriped suit to work Tuesday because he wanted to appear serious
before the television cameras.

Krohn, several City Council members and two former mayors gathered in front
of Santa Cruz City Hall on Tuesday afternoon to witness a medical-marijuana
giveaway in protest of a federal raid two weeks ago on a community cannabis
collective.

It was a direct challenge to the Drug Enforcement Administration, and
though the mayor did not physically handle the marijuana Tuesday, he was
unsure whether he would be going to jail.

"We are not California wackos,' the mayor said in an interview. "We are
trailblazers. We are normal. This is not an attempt to embarrass the DEA
but rather a compassionate gathering in support of sick people who need
their medicine.'

Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that the 1996 California voter
initiative legalizing medical marijuana did not provide a defense against
federal prosecution, the state has become the target of Bush administration
efforts to crack down on the cultivation and distribution.

In California, federal authorities have raided marijuana clubs in West
Hollywood, San Francisco, Oakland and Sebastapol.

Since 1996, nine states have enacted laws allowing medical use of marijuana
in some circumstances. In addition to California, they are Alaska, Arizona,
Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

Federal officials did not tend to test these laws through criminal
enforcement actions until after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year, in
a civil case, that the California law does not provide defendants with a
medical-necessity defense in federal prosecutions.

Since then, there have been a handful of raids and about 30 arrests. In
most cases, the marijuana was seized and destroyed but no prosecutions
occurred. Almost all of the federal activity seems to have been

in California.

Why California plays such a central role is the subject of debate. Its law
is the earliest and vaguest, and advocates are more vocal, visible and
provocative in California. The state's climate is better suited to the crop
than, for example, Maine's,

so the larger-scale distribution is more likely to meet informal federal
guidelines for what warrants prosecution.

"Most of the raids we've executed in California have involved 100-plus
plants,' said Will Glaspy, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement
Administration. "We're not talking about small growers.'

"I think maybe we're more visible and further along in this process,' said
Gerald Uelmen, a professor at the Santa Clara College School of Law, noting
there is no allowance in the state law for distribution of marijuana beyond
the primary caregiver, although local governments interpret that broadly.
Uelmen represents the owners of the Santa Cruz marijuana collective that
was raided Sept. 5.

The raid by the DEA may have been one of many, but the reaction was
particularly emotional. The target was a nationally known medical-marijuana
farm outside Santa Cruz owned by Michael and Valerie Corral, who helped
draft Proposition 215, California's 1996 medical-marijuana initiative. The
Corrals were arrested on suspicion of intent and conspiracy to distribute
marijuana. Agents seized three rifles, a shotgun and 167 budding marijuana
plants.

"It's hard to tell the difference between a so-called

club and an operation that cultivates and traffics in

marijuana,' said Glaspy of the DEA. "What you really have in California are
people fattening their pocketbooks under the disguise of medicine.'

Valerie Corral, in a cellular-phone interview, said of the accusation:
"That's outrageous.' She added: "I live off the land. They can check my
bank accounts. I'll take a lie-detector test. We're here to help dying people.'

The raid was a surprise to local officials, who said the Corrals' farm
complied with the state's marijuana law and had been publicly operating for
10 years.

"It's a shock,' Krohn said. "We've worked with the DEA here on our heroin
problem. We appreciate their assistance in those cases. But this raid was
unannounced and against the will of the people.'

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, a strong proponent of Proposition
215, sent a pointed letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft, asking for a
meeting and criticizing what he called "punitive expeditions' against
"locally authorized medical marijuana operations.'

Uelmen agreed that DEA enforcers are more interested in punishing than
prosecuting.

"They don't want to see this go to a jury,' Uelmen said.

Kevin Ryan, the new U.S. attorney in San Francisco, has yet to file
official charges in the Corral case. A spokesman said Ryan would not
comment on a continuing investigation. In the case of the West Hollywood
cooperative, prosecutors have sued to seize the property, considered the
biggest medical-marijuana operation in Southern California, although no
criminal charges have been brought.

Special Agent Richard Meyer, a spokesman for the San Francisco bureau of
the DEA, would not say whether anyone would be arrested in connection with
Tuesday's protest but questioned why city elders would interject themselves
into such a stunt.

"What kind of message are city officials sending to the youth of Santa
Cruz?' Meyer asked. "The law of the land is that marijuana is an illegal
drug. We will enforce those laws. You cannot pick and choose what laws
apply to you and those that don't.'

Daniel N. Abrahamson, director of legal affairs of the Drug Policy
Alliance, which advocates less-strict drug laws, said the federal
government could be sending its own counterproductive message.

"To what extent does the federal government's policy backfire by
emboldening state and local officials to engage in what amounts to civil
disobedience?' Abrahamson asked.

The crackdown in California comes as fall elections will let citizens
across the country vote on a number of marijuana proposals.

In San Francisco, voters will decide whether the city should grow marijuana
to supply patients.

Nevadans will decide whether to allow adults 21 and older to possess as
much as 3 ounces of marijuana, whether they are sick or not, with no threat
of criminal penalty. They would not be allowed to smoke it in public or
operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana. Under current
Nevada law, anyone caught with 3 ounces of marijuana could face four years
in prison. Arizona, Ohio and Michigan have initiatives on the ballot that
would reduce penalties for possession.

In July a bipartisan bill was introduced in the House of Representatives to
legalize marijuana for medical use, removing any conflict between state and
federal law, though the legislation seems to have little support.