PETALUMA POT-GROWING CASE DRAWS TO A CLOSE

First Cannabis Trial Guided By Prop. 215

After seven weeks of testimony, the Sonoma County jury hearing a crucial
medical marijuana case began deliberating late yesterday afternoon.

The two defendants grew 899 pot plants at a rented Petaluma farm for a San
Francisco cannabis club. The case is the first in the state to put pot
providers to cannabis clubs on trial since the 1996 passage of Proposition 215.

In closing arguments yesterday, San Francisco defense lawyer J. Nicole
DeFever called this a "righteous case," saying her clients' actions were
protected by the compassionate-use law.

But prosecutor Carla Claeys -- waving a huge bud while she addressed the
jury -- said, "This is about money, because the compassionate-use act did
not contemplate setting up a business around marijuana. It did not give
defendants the right to charge a 100 percent markup for seriously ill people."

The defendants, Kenneth E. Hayes Jr. and Michael S. Foley, face felony
charges for marijuana cultivation and possession for sale following a May
14, 1999, bust at the Petaluma farm. Sheriff's deputies allegedly
discovered the plants growing inside a barn and in six greenhouses. They
also say they found hashish and a rifle inside the house. If convicted, the
defendants each face a maximum penalty of 6 1/2 years in state prison.

The case has far-reaching political implications, as the statewide law is
silent on the question of where patients obtain cannabis -- and has been
interpreted differently by county district attorneys. It has also pitted
San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan, who is sympathetic to
medical marijuana use and testified for the defendants, against the
hard-nosed prosecution of such cases by Sonoma County District Attorney
Mike Mullins.

Oakland attorney William Panzer, also representing the defendants, urged
jurors to signal Mullins with a swift acquittal.

"Mike Mullins is one of these people who doesn't like this law, and you
(jurors) have an opportunity to send him a message right now," Panzer said.

Hayes is the former executive director of CHAMP -- Cannabis Helping
Alleviate Medical Problems -- and Foley managed the San Francisco club's
dispensary. Medical marijuana advocates say pot helps alleviate the effects
of chemotherapy and promotes appetite in AIDS and cancer patients.

Hayes testified that he grew the pesticide-free cannabis in Petaluma to
provide quality "medicine" for CHAMP's 1,280 members. Several patients, who
said Hayes was their primary caregiver, said they received cannabis for
free and were given dinners, yoga and other social support.

DeFever told jurors that the "greed" and "black market sales" alleged by
the prosecution simply didn't stand scrutiny. Each bag, she said, was
labeled "for medical use only and not for resale. That's not exactly a drug
dealer's tactic."

Panzer said Hayes had received assurances that his actions were legal from
several quarters, including Hallinan and Marin County law enforcers. Hayes,
he said, didn't sell the cannabis but received consignments from vendors,
who were paid only after patients got the pot.