Pubdate: 16 June 1999 Source: Sacramento Bee (CA) Copyright: 1999 The Sacramento Bee Contact: P.O.Box 15779, Sacramento, CA 95852 Feedback: http://www.sacbee.com/about_us/sacbeemail.html Website: http://www.sacbee.com/ Forum: http://www.sacbee.com/voices/voices_forum.html Note: Title by Newshawk "JOE HEMP" GOES TO COURT LOS ANGELES - A convicted marijuana grower who calls himself "Joe Hemp" was ordered to either give up his drug activism or go to prison. After thinking it over for about two hours Monday, Joe Michael Kidwell agreed to stop growing and distributing marijuana, said Deputy District Attorney Decio Rangel on Tuesday. Kidwell grew his drugs on a rooftop and openly sold the marijuana from a Venice storefront under the name "Joe Hemp's First Bank Cannabis Distribution Network," Rangel said. Kidwell claimed his actions were legal under the Medicinal Marijuana Act approved in 1996, which allows some people to use the drug if they have a doctor's prescription. But he failed to persuade a Los Angeles jury, which convicted him in May. Judge Albert Matthews suspended Kidwell's two-year prison sentence and put him on probation for three years. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea