Marijuana on roadside - signs

[Torsten]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file...1816EST0139.DTL

Medical marijuana groups posting roadside billboards

(01-22) 15:16 PST SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --

Along with roadside advertisements for beer, liquor and fast-food, California motorists will now see billboards promoting medical marijuana. The 30 billboards, which began appearing Wednesday in San Francisco

and across the state, feature an 8-year-old Chico girl whose father, Bryan Epis, is serving 10 years on federal marijuana cultivation charges.

"Medical marijuana, compassion not federal prison," read the billboards, which are sponsored by a host of marijuana groups. They also show young Ashley Epis holding a sign that reads: "My Dad is not a criminal."

Her photo was taken at a rally outside the federal courthouse in Sacramento last year, where her father was sentenced for growing cannabis for a Chico medical marijuana club.

California voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996, allowing people to use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. The federal government, however, does not recognize the medical marijuana law and

has been raiding California medical pot clubs and arresting growers who say they were cultivating for patients.

A spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration, Richard Meyer, said the marijuana groups are "certainly entitled to express their opinions."

But he added that "marijuana has no accepted medical use" and "our job is to enforce federal laws."

Third-grader Ashley Epis said she agreed to be on the billboard.

"I want everybody to know that my dad is not a criminal," she said.

Mike Gray, chairman of Common Sense for Drug Policy, said the campaign was designed to "wake up the federal government."

Billboard company Clear Channel Outdoor donated the space for a month. The marijuana groups said they paid about $20,000 for the banners. "As a company, any unsold corporate space is donated back to the

community," said Ben Scott, the company's governmental affairs manager.

For pics and more details look here:

http://www.medicalmj.org/