One evening last week, AIDS activist Phillip Alden unpacked some groceries in the kitchen of his stylishly appointed Redwood Shores condominium and prepared for his daily pre-dinner ritual.

Alden, a long-time AIDS survivor, pulled a tightly rolled joint of marijuana from a plastic medicine jar, noted it on an index card, and then settled back into his recliner and took a long drag.

Seeds in the cigarette sparked and popped.

"I know after I take a few hits that within 10 minutes I'm going to be hungry and my nausea is going to go away," said Alden, who suffers from chronic persistent wasting syndrome, a condition that inhibits the body's ability to absorb nutrients.

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