Are Python docstrings and comments stored in memory when a module is loaded?

I've wondered if this is true, because I usually document my code well; may this affect memory usage?
Usually every Python object has a __doc__ method. Are those docstrings read from the file, or processed otherwise?
I've done searches here in the forums, Google and Mailing-Lists, but I haven't found any relevant information.  
Do you know better?
Do Python docstrings and comments are
  stored in memory when module is
  loaded?

Docstrings are compiled into the .pyc file, and are loaded into memory.  Comments are discarded during compilation and have no impact on anything except the insignificant extra time taken to ignore them during compilation (which happens once only after any change to a .py file, except for the main script which is re-compiled every time it is run).
Also note that these strings are preserved only if they are the first thing in the module, class definition, or function definition.  You can include additional strings pretty much anywhere, but they will be discarded during compilation just as comments are.
Are Python docstrings and comments stored in memory when a module is loaded?