ROBBERS TARGET MEDICAL MARIJUANA

As John Kersey walked into the small lobby of his apartment building early
this week, he encountered a young man wearing a military-style gas mask and
holding a compact submachine gun.

Kersey said he immediately knew the commando-looking character came for his
roommate's marijuana, being grown legally for medical use.

The robber and a companion forced their way inside Kersey's apartment and
stole five plants under cultivation for 51-year-old Dharkoth Decosta, an
AIDS patient. Officials say it's the first time criminals targeted an
Alaska medical marijuana permit-holder.

The incident began about 11:45 p.m.. The robber quickly pushed Kersey up
against the door of his first-floor apartment. Then a second man, wearing a
ski mask and bearing a revolver, stepped out from under the stairwell. They
taped Kersey's arms together.

Decosta was inside watching television.

"I heard shoving against the wall, heard the noise, walked over to the door
and through the peephole saw them taping John," said Decosta, who two years
ago was diagnosed with AIDS, contracted from an infected tattoo needle. He
said smoking marijuana twice a day has helped him reverse massive weight loss.

"I opened the door to stop them from doing anything to him out there,"
Decosta continued.

Police spokesman Ron McGee said officers examined Decosta's medical
marijuana permit, issued by the Alaska Department of Health and Social
Services.

Though they were growing the pot legally, "Having drugs in your home makes
you a target," McGee said. "The robbers obviously had this planned out."

But Kersey said pot smokers should beware: The stolen plants won't be
quality because they hadn't gone through the final stage of flushing with
water and then drying.

"What they took is nothing but chemicals so when people smoke it they're
going to get sick," he said. "It'll taste like crap."