CALIF. INNKEEPERS ARE MELLOW ABOUT MARIJUANA - FOR PATIENTS

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- Occasionally a guest will show up expecting some
revisitation of the '60s or a complimentary joint left on the pillow at night.

However, while partners Andrea Tischler and Maria Mallek-Tischler are
ardent advocates for the legalization of cannabis and proponents of medical
marijuana, they neither dispense nor sell pot at the Compassion Flower Inn,
the first - and maybe only - bed, bud, and breakfast establishment in the
country.

Instead, they consider their cozy inn, quartered in the handsome 1876
Gothic-Revival Victorian they spent three years and more than a half
million dollars refurbishing, as a place where medical marijuana patients
can relax about their treatment and guests can experience gracious hospitality.

Pot-smoking privileges are reserved for those who have a doctor's
recommendation under California's Compassionate Use Act, which allows
patients with conditions that range from glaucoma to cancer to use
marijuana as a medicine. Smoking is confined to a patio behind the inn,
surrounded by climbing passionflower vines and gardens and adjacent to the
clothing-optional hot tub, discreetly hidden behind lattice fencing. Those
who qualify must supply their own stash; cigarette smokers are banished to
the front steps.

Nestled on a residential street adjacent to the bustling downtown, the inn
and its owners fit right in with nonconforming, counterculture Santa Cruz,
famous for surfing, jazz, and a gamut of alternative lifestyles. Tischler
grew up in Chicago, Miami, and Illinois and lived several years in Guam
where she taught school rather than fight in the Vietnam War. She lived as
a male until 1971, when she moved to San Francisco and soon after enrolled
in Stanford University's sex-reassignment program.

Mallek-Tischler grew up in Germany and met Tischler while visiting San
Francisco in 1979. The two have been together ever since and have two
biological children, Leah, 13, and Damian, 18. Together, they have
refurbished dozens of houses; the Compassion Flower Inn is their most
ambitious joint venture.

The inn is really a work of art. Mallek-Tischler's luscious watercolor
paintings of flowers reminiscent of Georgia O'Keefe are found throughout
the house, and she has created intricate faux finishes and Victorian
details on door panels, lintels, and borders. Four upstairs guestrooms are
furnished with antique double beds and dressers decorated with
Mallek-Tischler's detailed hand stenciling. Walls are painted in warm faux
finishes with decorative borders following a passion flower or marijuana
theme. The Lovers' room has a double sunken tub.

Along with the open atmosphere toward medical marijuana and sexual
orientation, there's much that's downright traditional about this family
and their inn. You're more apt to hear opera or National Public Radio than
Jimmy Hendrix's wailing guitar, and the interchange between the couple and
their children is the same as in any family - who's picking up the kids
after school; what's for dinner and the like.

Breakfasts of apple pancakes or eggs scrambled with herbs and served with
homemade scones and passionflower jelly are served family-style in the
large dining room where amber light filters through stained-glass windows.
Plates were designed by an artist friend and feature the inn's icons: the
passionflower and the marijuana leaf.

In the evening, the family gathers for dinner before the children do their
homework. Leah, in particular, turns her nose up if she smells pot wafting
in from the back patio, but she and her brother seem unfazed by either the
guests or their parents' political views. Life at the Compassion Flower Inn
is casual: Guests gather before the fireplace in the living room or around
the dining room table to discuss books, art, and politics. The inn attracts
lots of artists, such as a recent group of alternative filmmakers.

Political activism is nothing new to this couple who once made marijuana
brownies for San Francisco General Hospital patients and friends suffering
from AIDS. After losing many friends to AIDS and feeling uncomfortable
about raising their children in the hardscrabble San Francisco neighborhood
where they lived, the couple moved to Davenport, just north of Santa Cruz,
in 1988.

Tischler became famous for appearing in local parades and public hearings
as Nurse Mary Jane, dressed in a miniskirted uniform and wearing a
marijuana-leaf necklace. The couple was among those who worked to create
Proposition 215 - the statewide compassionate use act, which was approved
by voters in 1996. When they bought the house in 1997, the building was in
disrepair. The City Council had considered tearing it down in the 1950s.

During remodeling, the couple found nearly 200-year-old stained-glass
window panels under the house. Inside they discovered the diary of Edgar
Spalsbury, a constable, judge, and Civil War veteran who lived here and
wrote of his frequent use of laudanum, morphine, and tincture of opium to
treat a long list of ailments. A published edition of Spalsbury's diary
quotes historian Viola Washburn: commenting that, "Today, we would call him
an addict. But such are the ways of homeopathic medicines."

The couple initially considered opening a restaurant or medical marijuana
dispensary but came to see the need for a safe and compassionate home away
from home for medical marijuana patients and their supporters. They say
they have been surprised that so many of their guests have no desire to
smoke the herb but rather are attracted to the inn's tolerant atmosphere.

In that, the bed, bud, and breakfast reflects community attitudes, says
Deputy Chief of the Santa Cruz Police Department Jeff Locke: "Department
policy reflects that of the community. Over 75 percent of Santa Cruz voters
gave approval of Proposition 215. In my opinion, we're talking about
medical problems with a medical solution. If we find someone possessing, we
try to determine if a person has one of the ailments that marijuana helps
and a physician recommendation. While there's debate over whether marijuana
is harmful or not, in my 30 years as an officer, I've seen many more
problems caused by alcohol abuse than by marijuana use."

That view is not universal. Patty Haymond at the Santa Cruz City Council
said the city enacted an ordinance that allowed the distribution of medical
marijuana by recognized providers and doctors but, after the US Supreme
Court ruled last spring against California's application of Proposition
215, the city attorney told Santa Cruz officials they could not enforce
their ordinance.

Tischler says the fight over state versus federal rights is far from over.
In the meantime, "we're being diligent about following the law passed by
California voters. At the same time, we want to honor the rights of our
guests to a safe and supportive environment."

[SIDEBAR]

If You Go . . .

Compassion Flower Inn
216 Laurel St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831-466-0420
www.compassionflowerinn.com

Cost: $125 to $175 with winter discounts and discounts for medical
marijuana patients

Yvonne Daley, a frequent contributor to the Globe, writes and teaches in
Vermont and San Francisco.