AGENTS SEIZE COUPLE, PLANTS

Pot Farm: State Vs. Federal Fight Over Medicinal Marijuana Flares UP In
Santa Cruz County

Federal drug agents on Thursday raided a nationally known cooperative that
grows medicinal marijuana in Santa Cruz County, arresting a married couple
that founded the organization a decade ago.

Valerie and Michael Corral were arrested at their home in the hills near
Davenport on federal charges of intent to distribute marijuana and
conspiracy. But by the end of the day, the couple were released from
custody in San Jose after the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to file
charges against them.

It was unclear late Thursday whether the couple would ever be charged, a
source in the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Agents said they seized more than 100 marijuana plants, a shotgun and three
rifles in the early morning raid. As word filtered out, AIDS patients and
other members of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana -- better
known as WAMM -- who rely on marijuana to relieve pain began to gather at a
locked gate that leads to the farm.

When about a dozen U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agents realized they
couldn't leave without confronting the group of more than 30 people, the
agents called the Santa Cruz County sheriff's office. The department, which
knew nothing in advance about the raid and has worked closely with the
Corrals to make sure the farm operated within state laws, sent a patrol car
about 2 p.m.

Sgt. Terry Moore helped arrange passage for the agents after WAMM member
Daniel Rodrigues talked to Valerie Corral, 49, on a cell phone. Corral told
Rodrigues to let the agents leave.

The agents then left in a half-dozen SUVs and some U-Haul trucks containing
the confiscated marijuana.

``Shame on you!'' several members of the group jeered as the agents drove by.

``I hope you rot in hell,'' one WAMM member shouted.

Valerie Corral received national attention for her role in helping to draft
California's Proposition 215, the 1996 measure that permits patients and
their caregivers to grow their own pot for medicinal purposes. She and her
husband have complied fully with the measure, said sheriff's spokesman Kim
Allyn.

The collective was conceived by Valerie Corral after she discovered that
marijuana helped suppress epileptic seizures stemming from a head injury
suffered in a car accident three decades ago.

``To their credit, Valerie and Michael Corral held true and strict to the
guidelines,'' Allyn said. ``I think how Valerie told the group to move from
the roadway today shows what kind of person she is.''

Thursday's raid was the latest battle in a war pitting local police and
sheriff's deputies against federal authorities after the passage of
Proposition 215 -- which U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft maintains
violates federal drug laws.

In May, the U.S. Supreme Court made it impossible to provide medicinal
marijuana to seriously ill patients without running afoul of U.S. laws,
issuing a broad ruling that jeopardized the future of medicinal pot
programs in California and other states. In an 8-0 opinion, the justices
rejected a federal appeals court's earlier decision that carved out a
``medical necessity'' exception to drug laws.

DEA agents have recently cracked down on several pot distribution clubs in
California -- clubs that had received the blessing of local law enforcement
agencies. Earlier this year, agents seized hundreds of plants from a San
Francisco club and arrested one of its suppliers, pot guru Ed Rosenthal.

Thursday's raid was surprising, though, since the cooperative has worked so
closely with sheriff's deputies. ``We're trying to do the right thing, but
this puts us between a rock and a hard place,'' Allyn said.

After the U.S. attorney made the decision not to file charges on Thursday,
a DEA representative could not be reached for comment.

After the DEA agents left, about 50 members of the cooperative and the
media examined what was left at the farm, which sits on a ridge overlooking
the Pacific Ocean about three miles north of Davenport.

After seeing the once-flourishing, one-acre garden with a sign saying
``Love Grows Here,'' several WAMM members wept openly and cursed the agents
who had wiped out the pot farm.

``This is a nightmare,'' said Diana Dodson, a WAMM board member who uses
cannabis to counteract the side effects of the drugs she takes for AIDS.
``I'm numb. I'm still in shock.''

Marijuana, she said, ``keeps me walking.''

WAMM provides medicinal marijuana for more than 230 patients, most of them
suffering from AIDS, cancer and neurological diseases such as epilepsy. The
waiting list for terminal patients is a year long, Dodson said.

The cooperative is unique because patients who are well enough share chores
of planting, weeding, watering and harvesting the plants, said Dale
Gieringer, California coordinator of the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws.

``I think the federal government may have bitten off more than they can
chew on this one,'' he said.