Pubdate: Fri, 25 Oct 2002 Source: Orange County Weekly (CA) Copyright: 2002, O.C. Weekly Media, Inc Contact: http://www.ocweekly.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/322 Author: Matt Coker Cited: Americans For Safe Access http://www.safeaccessnow.org/ Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Note: The text below is the drug-policy related portion of a longer column. DIARY OF A MAD COUNTY WEDNESDAY, Oct. 16 Laguna Beach's Ross Embry, who grew 12 marijuana plants to use and share with neighbors at the Hagan Place apartment complex for fellow HIV patients, pleads not guilty to felony charges of cultivation and possession of pot for sale. If you're wondering why the 53-year-old is being prosecuted given the state's Compassionate Use Act, you're not alone. "This is ridiculous," Hilary McQuie, spokeswoman for Americans for Safe Access, tells someone at the Reggie not yet let go. "He's a compassionate provider. And 12 plants is a very small number." Unfortunately, the law's ambiguity about how much pot one can grow is frequently pounced on by those boozers at the Orange County district attorney's office. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk