Pubdate: Thu, 06 Dec 2007
Source: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA)
Copyright: 2007 Los Angeles Newspaper Group
Contact:  http://www.dailybulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/871
Author: Will Bigham, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://drugnews.org/people/Swerdlow (Lanny Swerdlow)

MEDICAL POT ACTIVIST ENTERS NOT-GUILTY PLEA

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - When Lanny Swerdlow decided to attend a meeting in 
October of the Inland Valley Drug Free Community Coalition, he 
intended to hear the group's message and pass out fliers in support 
of medical marijuana.

Instead, the activist ended up in the back of a San Bernardino County 
sheriff's squad car, arrested for allegedly assaulting a guest 
speaker who denied him entry to the public event.

On Wednesday Swerdlow pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge.

Swerdlow insists he did not push the speaker, Paul Chabot, and was 
denied entry and subsequently arrested because of his stance on 
medical marijuana.

"It's so bizarre," Swerdlow said. "I can't believe they're going 
through with this nonsense."

The Inland Valley Drug Free Community Coalition was formed in August, 
and its Oct. 2 meeting at the Brulte Senior Center was its first.

Chabot, the meeting's guest speaker, is married to the coalition's 
president, Brenda Chabot.

When Swerdlow approached the sign-in desk before the meeting, Paul 
Chabot was standing at the entrance next to a man who recognized 
Swerdlow from a YouTube video supporting medical marijuana, Swerdlow said.

Swerdlow, a Palm Springs resident, is one of the region's leading 
advocates for medical marijuana. He hosts a weekly radio show, 
"Marijuana: Compassion and Common Sense," on KCAA-AM (1050).

Swerdlow was holding a box of pro-marijuana fliers when he walked 
into the event, and Chabot told authorities he was concerned for the 
safety of those attending because Swerdlow would not show him its 
contents. Swerdlow says he told Chabot it contained fliers on medical 
marijuana.

Chabot tried to deny Swerdlow entry to the event, and Swerdlow 
ignored him, stepping around him into the meeting room, according to 
Swerdlow and a witness, Victor Martin.

Chabot said Swerdlow pushed him with two hands before entering the 
event, according to a deputy's report. A witness, Mark Bradley, 
confirmed Chabot's account.

After the encounter, Chabot called authorities, and a sheriff's 
deputy arrested Swerdlow on battery charges.

Several other marijuana activists who also tried to attend the event 
were ejected.

"The people who were having the meeting, in my opinion, were 
basically going to lie, and they didn't want anyone to know the 
truth," said Dave Matteson, an Upland resident who regularly attends 
Claremont City Council meetings to lobby for a dispensary in the city.

Matteson and his wife, Darlene, were among those ejected from the 
Oct. 2 meeting.

The Inland Valley Drug Free Community Coalition issued an unsigned 
statement declining to comment on Swerdlow's battery arrest.

The coalition is opposed to all drug use, and as part of its platform 
opposes medical-marijuana dispensaries.

The group is seeking federal funding for its operation, according to 
its Web site.

Swerdlow says he "has a problem" with the group seeking federal 
funding because it seeks to undermine the state's medical-marijuana program.

"It's wrong to use federal tax money to arrest people for doing what 
is legally permissible under state law," Swerdlow said.

"And why an anti-drug group would want to get involved in this battle 
between state and federal law is beyond me."

in a Rancho Cucamonga courtroom,
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom