California in hot spot with medical pot

By Corinne Heller

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - They advertise in newspapers and on the Internet, where they supply their telephone numbers and addresses and offer free samples to new customers.

Finding medical marijuana vendors in California is about as easy as locating a Starbucks coffee shop.

But fresh raids by the federal government threaten to push this industry into the shadows 10 years after California legalized possession of marijuana for medical use.

"There's no way to prepare," said Joby, manager at a Los Angeles dispensary who declined to give his last name for fear of being raided.

"We're doing everything as legally as we possibly can but ... they (the federal government) are still saying we give too much," he added.

He said he has hundreds of regular customers, including one who is 67 and has been HIV positive for 17 years. With a doctor's prescription, they can possess up to a cup of cannabis -- or more if needed -- to relieve pain, nausea and psychological disorders.

The federal government argues that the legal alternative, a pill called Marinol made by a unit of Belgium's Solvay, works just fine, but activists say some people get little relief from the pill.

The U.S. Justice Department says possessing the drug for any purpose is illegal despite a dozen U.S. states allowing it for medical use.