City billboard becomes a bone of contention

Apparently there is an attempt to put up billboard up in Manchester, NH attacking Gov. Dean for his stance on medical marijuana. The billboard is being sponsored by The Medical Marijuana Project which claims according to the article:

Dr. Dean, despite his liberal leanings, effectively killed 2002 Vermont legislation to legalize marijuana use when prescribed by doctors to comfort seriously ill patients. A handful of states have such laws, although federal law outlaws marijuana for any purpose.

The interesting place is where they wanted to put the ad:

[The group's spokesman Aaron] Houston spotted an empty board at the busy corner of MacGregor and Bridge streets near Catholic Medical Center. “Advertise here,” it beckoned — with a phone number.

He was told by the broker that the space is only rented on a yearly basis. Although the primary is only seven months away, Houston said the group was so eager for the space, it offered to rent it for a year.

But several phone calls later, Dahn Cohen, the project manager for Elbes Associates of Manchester, which owns the billboard and the renovated mill building to which it is attached, told Houston he doubted he could rent the board to the group. Houston said Cohen did not give a clear reason.

Now, the punch line. After what Houston considers a run-around, he found out a major tenant in that building is Dean’s New Hampshire campaign headquarters.

Houston is “highly suspicious” that the Dean campaign convinced the owners to reject the ad.

Both Cohen and the Dean camp deny it. “We had no input on this at all,” said Dean spokesman Dorie Clark

Now actually when I was flyering at one of the peace rallies earlier in the year for Gov. Dean, I came across a "gentleman" who was flyering for some medical marijuana group - he was very vocal to me about his disapproval on the governor's stance. He must have seen these grades:

While Dean got an F+ and Bush an F, it didn’t surprise us to see Dennis Kucinich as the medical marijuana advocates’ favorite.

The Ohioan received an A for his unabashed support of medical marijuana as “an act of compassion and expression of humanity” for the terminally ill.

John Kerry got a C; Bob Graham a C-; Dick Gephardt and John Edwards both got Ds; Joe Lieberman a D-.

Update: Gov. Dean's stance is clarified in an article in The Nation (March 31, 2003) which states:

"[Dean] cannot stand state initiatives that seek to legalize medical marijuana. 'I hate the idea of legislators and politicians practicing medicine,' he says. Should the feds be busting medical marijuana clubs? 'Depends on the circumstances,' he says. 'In general, no.' If he were president, Dean adds, he would force the Food and Drug Administration to evaluate medical marijuana, and he would be prepared to accept its findings."