MEDICAL-POT BACKERS PROTEST TO FEDS

Medical marijuana proponents on Thursday protested increased action against
pot clubs by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration during the past
year.

As part of a nationwide protest, about 35 medical-marijuana users from Santa
Cruz were among a group asking the agency to end enforcement against
medical-marijuana clubs. Some 47 "cease and desist" requests were slid under
the doors of DEA offices in San Jose, said Valerie Corral, executive
director of WAMM, an area medical marijuana cooperative.

"That is quite a few people willing to say their names out loud," Corral
said by phone from a Dominican Hospital room, where a fellow medical user is
on life support.

The protests were launched in 50 cities, according to the group Americans
for Safe Access. A protest in San Francisco resulted in the arrests of six
people for obstructing the entrance to a federal office.

Medical-marijuana patients say the increased federal enforcement is a strain
on the morale for people living with painful and sometimes life-threatening
illnesses.

"It feels like harassment pure and simple," said Suzanne Pfeil, a member of
WAMM who suffers from post-polio syndrome. "They are harassing sick people."

Supporters say the federal government is not heeding the will of the people
in states where medical-marijuana measures have passed at the ballot box.
California approved medical use in 1996 under Proposition 215.

"Whatever happened to the democratic process?" Corral said.

While for the most part, local and state authorities have not cracked down
on medical users, the DEA began raiding marijuana clubs and cooperatives
last year. San Francisco DEA spokesman Richard Meyer said the agency is only
doing what its is required to do under federal law.

"We are committed to doing our job, and our job is to enforce federal laws,"
Meyer said.

And what about the will of voters in states that have approved it?

"That is for the politicians to resolve," Meyer said.

Last May the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that medical necessity is not a
defense for possessing pot. Since then, there have been DEA raids on medical
pot clubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, El Dorado County and, last month,
in Santa Rosa.