Years ago, in 1987, the late Ron Cochran, then the Police Chief of the City of Fort Lauderdale, was asked by Sun-Sentinel Reporter Kevin Davis, what he liked to do to relieve stress. In his own inimitable and subtle way, Ron responded jokingly: "I do what everybody else does. I smoke a joint."

          Ten years later, in 1997, Ron was suffering from a cancer that was slowly stealing away his precious life. We met regularly at the Floridian Restaurant for breakfast and conversation, and one morning I suggested to the Sheriff of Broward County that he start smoking marijuana for medicinal purposes. I promised to him that pot would offset the effects of the draining chemotherapy that he was enduring, and boost his appetite also. Pot really does give you the munchies.

          The Sheriff declined my offer, and, as far as I know, relied on traditional therapies until his passing. Sadly, that came all too soon. Ron and I lived our lives at opposite ends of the legal spectrum, he as the chief law enforcement officer of Broward County, and me, as an outspoken defense attorney, and an advocate for the decriminalization of marijuana. Nevertheless, we found a common bond in our visions and social outlook.

          The decriminalization of marijuana was something we talked about frequently, as I unsuccessfully prodded Ron to become one of the increasing number of prominent law enforcement officials to support decriminalization. I supplied him with so much literature on the topic, including a list of public figures who have advocated ending the drug war, columnists like William F. Buckley and U.S. District Judge James Paine of West Palm Beach. Ron was not so sure; a cautious man was he. He chose not to go that far. He did know, however, that you just cannot make an arrest and let it go; that you needed to offer treatment, rehabilitation, and restoration of the human spirit. That was what community policing was all about- restoring the dignity and community of the street corner- making it safe for people to walk home again.

          Ron Cochran, as a cop, and myself, as a defense attorney, recognized the absurd failures of incarceration, the utter and continuing futility of the court system, and the terrible injustices that both victims and the accused often suffer. "In the halls of justice," Lenny Bruce, an acerbic comic, once wrote, "the only justice is in the halls."

          Even Ron's predecessor, Sheriff Nick Navarro, knew that the system needed more than just locking people up. Nick, in fact, initiated the drug court programs that are so helpful today for addicts.

          Last Friday was one of those emotionally draining days at work that I would have shared with Ron Cochran. I drove to the United States District Court of Appeals to see a client, a 24 year old man, get sentenced to seven years in jail for growing his own hydroponic marijuana. His family was there to watch the judge impose a sentence mandated by law, required by statute, and codified by Congress. His wife cried as she held their nine month old baby, who would not see his father until sometime in the next century. His brother, a bank vice president, stood tall in pain. His mother was clutched in his father's arms, Mom and Dad watching as federal marshals took their child behind closed doors and barbed wires for the rest of this decade, and most of the next. His crime was pot.

          Even though he helped initiate boot camps to get kids off drugs, Ron Cochran, I thought, would not have been happy about this. It would not make sense to him to see a productive, loving, wage-earning father get locked up for so long. Ron, you see, did not want to just arrest and jail lawbreakers. He sought to arrest the process that created lawbreakers, tolerated injustice, and crippled society's sense of fairness. He wanted the community to see cops as the people's partners, not their militia. It troubled him that too many cops wanted to be more militia and marshal than friend and partner. He tried to change that.

          But who is the real criminal when it comes to pot? I think it is the legislators who convene over martinis to make pot illegal. I think of pot as the medicine that lets my client, Elvy Mussika, still see sunlight, despite her glaucoma. I see pot as the antidote that worked after twenty-three eye operations failed her.

          I see pot as the medicine that helped my friends like Tom Martin, deal with the wasting syndrome associated with AIDS. I see pot as the medicine that made his last days on this Earth more pleasant and bearable ones.

          I see pot as the healing angel that prevents a multiple sclerosis patient from going into uncontrollable spasms. I see pot as the agent that controls massive migraine headaches. I see pot as the mechanism that gives people the same inner calm as paxsil, zoloff, halcyon and a battery of other mind-calming prescription drugs that are costly and more addictive.

          I see pot as the little cigarette that thousands of you smoke every day just to chill out from a day's work. I see it as the smoke that helps you sleep at night, or the weed that relaxes you after you get home from I-95 at rush hour. I see it as the mellow high that lets you get laid back with friends, or the mild buzz that makes the nightclub or dinner you are going to a bit more enjoyable.

          Pot should be legal because just about everyone under 55 is using it, or has used it regularly, on a recreational basis. That is why the public in California and Arizona overwhelmingly supported statewide initiatives allowing legalization for medical purposes. Since everyone is already using pot recreationally, who is going to oppose its use medicinally? Well, our state cabinet and our prosac-using governor did. The battle for medical marijuana is officially underway in Florida.

          The Coalition Advocating Medical Marijuana (CAMM) is coordinated by Toni Leeman and is operating out of my law office at 800 East Broward Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. Their phone number is 954-763-1799. They will be actively seen at gay pride events asking you to sign their petitions and support their cause. A storm of protest is headed their way. They need your help.

          Among the leaders of CAMM is a young man with AIDS, one Greg Scott. "Marijuana," says Greg, with passion, conviction, and intensity, "has saved my life." Had I not used marijuana to fight the wasting syndrome of AIDS, I would have died long ago..." Greg Scott is the kind of person the gay community can be proud of. He is the kind of thoughtful person Ron Cochran would have enjoyed meeting.

          We all know that pot is not harmful. We all smoke it. Unfortunately, it is still illegal. People still get caught, arrested and jailed. Cops handcuff you, and cart your ass to jail, your car to impound. You are forced to hire lawyers, and buy your own forfeited car back. It's wrong, people.

         The people who smoke pot are not criminals. The real criminals are the people who pass laws making people who smoke pot criminals. Those are the ones who should be jailed- not sick people, not people who need pot to survive this screwed up society. Be proud. Get high.