COUNTY, CITY CONDEMN DEA MARIJUANA RAID

Sentinel staff report

SANTA CRUZ - County supervisors unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday
condemning the federal government's raid of the Wo/Men's Alliance for
Medical Marijuana garden last week.

The Santa Cruz City Council passed a similar measure.

Supervisor Mardi Wormhoudt, who sponsored the county resolution, said she
was "appalled" by the raid.

"This type of federal action seems to me completely unwarranted," she said.
"Most of us know the Wo/Men's Alliance to be exemplary in its practice."

Wormhoudt said the raid is forcing WAMM members to buy marijuana on the
open market, which is both risky and costly. And, ironically, the raid is
supporting international drug cartels that sell marijuana and other
dangerous drugs, she said.

WAMM director Valerie Corral and her husband, Michael, spoke of how they
were thrown face-down on the floor with guns pointed at their heads on
Thursday.

"This is a tragedy on so many levels, it is beyond me to comprehend,"
Michael Corral said. "In the last few months we have buried five of our
friends, and we will probably bury more because of this."

Alliance member Suzanne Pfeil, who suffers post-polio syndrome and uses a
wheelchair, also spoke Tuesday. Pfeil said she is in constant pain without
marijuana, one of the few drugs her body can tolerate.

"The guns of the nation are now pointed at the sick, the disabled and the
dying," she said. "I have a hard time believing I am the enemy."