WHAT A BUST; MARIJUANA ACTIVIST BACK IN LIMELIGHT

POTGROWING SUSPECT CALLED DEDICATED ACTIVIST

By: Yvette Cabrera, Lee Condon and Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff
Writers

Daily News Staff Writer Sharline Chiang contributed to this story.

Before his arrest for growing 4,116 marijuana plants in a rented BelAir
mansion, Todd McCormick cultivated a reputation as an ``in your face''
advocate in California's marijuanaasmedicine community.

His appearance in court Wednesday on federal charges was the latest
arrest stemming from his promotion of pot as a drug to treat cancer
including his own and other ailments, including AIDS.

It is no coincidence that McCormick had dubbed the rambling estate less
than a mile from Ronald Reagan's home as ``Liberty Castle'' and marked it
with a hemp American flag.

This case likely will be used to test the legality and boundaries of
Proposition 215. Voters passed the ballot initiative in November to allow
seriously ill people who have a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana
for medicinal purposes.

His arrest is a benchmark in McCormick's decadelong push to change
America's view of marijuana.

``The problem is he has a heart the size of Texas and Alaska put
together because he suffered for so many years it has aroused an empathy
for people who are suffering as well,'' said his mother, Ann, in a
telephone interview from her home in Rhode Island.

Like a veritable Johnny Appleseed, the 27yearold McCormick has
hopscotched the nation promoting his cause, opening a cannabis buyers club
in San Diego and trying to establish one in his native Rhode Island.
Along the way, Ohio state troopers pulled over his van in 1996 and found
30 pounds of marijuana. His San Diegoarea home was raided.

It did not deter McCormick.

``He is a dedicated activist for medical marijuana. This is putting his
cause before himself,'' said his former attorney, Don Wirtshafter.

McCormick's fame grew during the Ohio trial, which ended with charges
being dismissed when the judge found that the search of his van was
illegal.

Typically, McCormick fought for the return of his marijuana.

The test case

On Tuesday, deputies armed with a search warrant and a tip from a
drugdealing suspect stormed the fivebedroom mansion that McCormick rented
for $6,000 a month. There, they found lush plants, worth about $22 million
at $5,000 apiece, on the terrace and inside under lights in almost every
room.

McCormick and four others were arrested, setting the stage for what
could help define the limits of Proposition 215, which now stands at odds
with federal laws that outlaw all marijuana possession.

``This is a test case of whether the will of the people of California
will be carried out,'' said attorney Alan Isaacman, who is famous for
prevailing in pornography cases brought against Hustler magazine publisher
Larry Flynt.

On Wednesday, at the graystucco mansion, McCormick's girlfriend
insisted that the plants were used strictly for ``research.''

``He was breeding strains for research so medical patients will know
exactly what they're smoking and what to do with it,'' said Tiffany
Newmann, 23.

Newmann said McCormick uses marijuana under a doctor's care to endure
the pain from cancer, enhance his appetite and relax his muscles.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block, who himself twice survived a
bout of cancer, ridiculed McCormick's reason for possessing the marijuana.

``He has claimed he has been using these plants for his own medical use
4,000 plants should make him very healthy,'' Block said.

At the Los Angeles Cannabis Buyers' Club, the director also suspected
McCormick's motives.

``It seemed like they weren't running a cooperative to provide
medicinal marijuana for themselves,'' said Scott Imler, club director. ``We
don't believe that running a marijuana wholesale manufacturing operation
was part of Proposition 215.''

Childhood user

The eldest of three siblings, McCormick was born in Pawtucket, R.I.,
where at 2 he was diagnosed with cancer.

``We were letting the doctors put heavyduty chemicals in his veins, yet
we were worried what this benign little herb would do,'' said Ann
McCormick, in a phone interview from her Pawtucket home.

So at the age of 9, McCormick began taking marijuana. ``We discovered
marijuana worked, he could take food down,'' said Ann McCormick.

McCormick went on to graduate from an alternative high school and then
bypassed college for a life of activism. About two years ago he founded
Compassion Club in San Diego, where sick people could get pot for free.

His mother said she was aware her son was trying to establish a
distribution company that would grow marijuana for other clubs.

``Todd is a real good kid, he's not a criminal, not a kid that gets in
trouble,'' said McCormick, a former accountant.

Long before Proposition 215, McCormick was seen in promarijuana circles
as a revolutionary fighting for legalization.

``For him to have started this club two years ago before the law
passed shows a lot,'' said Dion Markgraaff, who helped found the club
in San Diego. In early 1996 McCormick left for Amsterdam, where
marijuana is legal, and he became editor of Hemp Life magazine. When
he learned of efforts in California to legalize medicinal marijuana,
he jumped on a plane.

``Todd could have stayed in Amsterdam forever,'' Wirtshafter said, ``but
chose to come back to California and put his neck on the line.''