Pubdate: Sat, 21 Apr 2012 Source: Chico Enterprise-Record (CA) Copyright: 2012 Chico Enterprise-Record Contact: http://www.chicoer.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/861 Author: Roger H. Aylworth 4-20 EVENT BRINGS OUT POT ADVOCATES CHICO - With the date of 4-20 as a backdrop, a small number of marijuana advocates gathered outside of Chico City Hall Friday to voice their opposition to laws that limit access to their "medicine," and also to share some. The number 420 is a watchword among marijuana users and Weston Mickey, one of the event's organizers, shouted, "Happy 4-20," to everybody who walked by. While the event was an opportunity to smoke some marijuana, the real goal was more that just the convivial consumption of cannabis. Mickey of Chico was one of the leaders in the effort to get a referendum on the June ballot, in the hope of reversing a Butte County ordinance that limits where marijuana gardens can exist, and requires growers to obtain permits from the county, among other limitations. Within weeks of the ordinance's passing in May of last year, petitioners collected well more than enough signatures to put the referendum on the June ballot. Mickey said he considers it almost certain that the voters will void the cultivation ordinance, and then he and others advocating the use of medicinal marijuana will submit their own proposed replacement ordinance to the Board of Supervisors. John Roadrunner of Paradise, representing High Sierra NORML, a local division of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said he was on hand to get support for changing the "schedule" status of cannabis. Under federal law, marijuana is a "Schedule 1" controlled substance, according to the federal Drug Enforcement Agency website. A Schedule 1 substance is defined as something that has a high likelihood of abuse and no recognized medicinal value. Roadrunner scoffs at the suggestion that marijuana has no medicinal value. He said he is being treated for severe liver disease with marijuana. Roadrunner said if the feds moved marijuana off the Schedule 1 list, the whole problem of the drug's legality could be eliminated. As they spoke, a "joint" was being passed around in what one man there called a "peace pipe" gesture. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt