'FUNNY FARM' POT OPERATION SHUT DOWN

Two Who Grew Medicinal Marijuana Given Probation

BEND, Ore. -- Two men who grew marijuana for people with AIDS have been
sentenced to probation by a Deschutes County judge.

Eugene Stanley Carsey, 59, and Michael Keith Craven, 57, were
sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to delivering marijuana and
frequenting a place where marijuana was sold, respectively.

Carsey and Craven run a roadside attraction called the Funny Farm,
which bills itself as a "park and playground of reuse and recycling."
They are also the founders of the Central Oregon AIDS Support Team.
The two men were arrested on Feb. 26 after police found evidence of a
commercial marijuana sales operation on their property, including 3
1/2 pounds of the drug. Carsey said later that about half the
so-called marijuana seized was actually catnip.

Oregon voters passed a medical marijuana law in 1998 that allows
certain patients, with a state permit, to use marijuana to ease their
symptoms But Carsey said it is difficult for people with AIDS and
other diseases to get marijuana prescriptions in Central Oregon.

Carsey was sentenced to three years of probation and 200 hours of
community service; Craven to one year of probation and 80 hours of
community service. Other charges against the men were dropped in a
plea deal.