[420 Girl]

Pro-pot officials said they expected dozens of people to descend on the Liberty Bell in downtown Bakersfield to protest comments made by Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood.

Only a handful of protesters showed up, however, by 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, a full half hour after the protest was scheduled to begin.

Officials with the Bakersfield chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws said earlier Wednesday that they were unhappy with some comments Youngblood made to the media after Monday's announcement that federal prosecutors would lay off medical marijuana users and suppliers who were abiding by state laws.

Youngblood said he was troubled by the federal decision, saying that marijuana is a serious drug that's illegal nationally. He said, however, that he'd abide by California law, which allows people with a doctor's prescription to obtain medical marijuana.

"Kern County operates on the good-old-boy network," said local NORML vice president Katherine Cecil. "The people who run this town, they have an idea of the way the town should run, and they make it happen that way."

Youngblood, in response, said NORML officials have been inconsistent in their criticisms of him. He said they urged him to ignore federal law back when the Bush administration favored prosecuting medical marijuana users regardless of whether the state allowed its use.

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