The following article appears in the San Diego Union-Tribune today: Medicinal Marijuana Use Nets Prison Term By Anne Krueger Staff Writer A La Mesa man who says he uses marijuana to relieve symptoms associated with AIDS was sentenced reluctantly yesterday to 16 months in prison by a San Diego judge who said he thinks laws against marijuana should be repealed. "I don't like the laws against marijuana," Municipal Court Judge Charles Rogers said from the bench. "I join that growing number of voices that says those laws should be re-examined. I suggest they should be repealed against marijuana." Rogers expressed his opinion as he imposed the prison sentence on Samuel Skipper, 39, who immediately was taken into custody by bailiffs. Skipper told Rogers at a hearing last month that he could not remain on probation for an earlier marijuana cultivation conviction if that meant authorities could still search him to see if he is continuing to take marijuana. Although Skipper changed his mind yesterday and told Rogers through his lawyer that he would accept probation, Rogers said Skipper had already indicated he could not abide by the law while on probation. That statement left him no legal alternative, Rogers said, but to order Skipper to prison. Rogers -- who has said he plans to leave the bench soon to move to Portland, Ore. -- said that he had great sympathy with Skipper's claim that he must ingest marijuana to prevent the nausea and weight loss that is often associated with AIDS. Skipper is infected with the virus that causes AIDS, although he does not yet have the disease. "I think the laws against marijuana are dumb laws," Rogers said. "I have a great difficulty with a system of laws that lets us take some substances that make us feel good in the form of alcohol, but don't let us take marijuana." Despite his personal feelings, Rogers said he was obligated to uphold laws. Deputy District Attorney David Williams had argued that Skipper must be sentenced to prison to protect society because Skipper was not willing to follow the terms of his probation. "I have nothing against Mr. Skipper trying to change the law," Williams said. "But violating the law is not the way to do it." The issue of drug legalization again has erupted onto the national political forefront since Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders recently suggested that legalizing drugs should be studied. The Clinton administration also is considering whether to allow the compassionate use of marijuana for patients suffering from serious illnesses. Several groups that favor the legalization of marijuana have closely followed Skipper's case, and he has been vocal in his belief that marijuana should be available for medicinal purposes. Skipper's lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Juliana Humphrey, said after the hearing that she believes her client might have avoided a prison sentence if he had not been so public in expressing his opinion about marijuana. "That's what he was punished for," she said. "If he'd shut up, it would be a very different case." Skipper, a gardener and telephone-jack installer, said he pleaded guilty to growing marijuana in 1991 because he wanted to devote his time to his lover, who was dying of AIDS. He was placed on three years' probation then, with the condition that authorities be allowed to search his house without a warrant. He was charged last year with two felony counts after authorities searched and found marijuana growing at his home. But a jury acquitted Skipper of the charges in October, agreeing with his defense that he had a medical need for the drug. After the acquittal, Skipper returned to Rogers' court, seeking to cut short the remaining nine months of his probation on the 1991 charge. Rogers refused to end Skipper's probation but offered to remove the requirement allowing authorities to search Skipper's house. He still would have been subject to searches of himself and his car, however. Skipper refused then, saying he did not want to continue "to live under the thumb" of the district attorney's office. In a letter to Rogers before yesterday's hearing, Skipper said he regretted pleading guilty to the marijuana cultivation charge. "I am struggling with physical and emotional agonies, but currently they are associated with my persecution more than with AIDS and its related syndromes," Skipper wrote. "I am not afraid to die, but I am also not afraid to live." Bob Randall of Washington, D.C., a glaucoma sufferer who is one of only nine people in the United States who has been allowed by the courts to use marijuana for medicinal purposes, attended yesterday's hearing. He said Skipper's case has national implications. "Sam's being punished for winning against a system that is generally discredited," Randall said. ___________________________________________________ San Diego Hemp Council -- [s d hc] at [pro-sancho.cts.com] Hemp Can Save The Planet -- Re-Legalize It NOW! --- * Origin: COBRUS - Usenet-to-Fidonet Distribution System (1:2613/335.0)