ACTIVISTS MAKE HISTORY FOR CANNABIS

High Court To Hear Oaklanders' View

The Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative will make history this spring by
arguing to the U.S. Supreme Court that medical necessity for marijuana use
should provide an exception to federal drug laws.

Meanwhile, Paula Beal isn't interested in making history -- she just wants
to run her own medical marijuana clinic in a small storefront just off East
14th Street. She intends to start taking clients early in 2001.

While the spotlight follows OCBC's battle to the nation's highest court,
others -- like Beal -- quietly are creating pot clubs of their own.

Oakland city officials, who took the OCBC under their municipal wing, are
cautious about endorsing other clubs but see no reason to block them.

State officials say there should be a law that governs this, but there
isn't. And federal officials still contend any distribution of marijuana
for any purpose is a crime.

Four years after Californians approved the medical marijuana ballot measure
Proposition 215, its implementation is still catch-as-catch-can.

"There ought to be some state law that outlines the appropriate method to
distribute this medicine to sick people as the voters in California
approved," railed Nathan Barankin, spokesman for Attorney General Bill
Lockyer. "Clearly, the initiative did not provide adequate -- even the
slightest bit -- of guidance on how to responsibly implement it."

The Willie Beal Alternative Medicine Research Corporation's walls bear
pro-marjiuana posters both solemn and lighthearted, and the air is redolent
of incense.

"I started this because of my husband," Paula Beal said, her desk blanketed
with paperwork. "He died in September of 1999 of bladder cancer."

Diagnosed in 1994, Willie Beal staunchly supported medical marijuana, and
he and his wife helped raise thousands of votes for Proposition 215. He
endured more than two dozen surgeries as well as radiation treatment and
chemotherapy, and when traditional painkillers such as morphine couldn't
provide relief, marijuana did, his wife said.

It was his wish, she said, that she keep fighting to make medical marijuana
available to those who need it, particularly low-income and minority people
who aren't comfortable taking part in some of the existing clubs.

"There are thousands of patients whose needs aren't being met ... and they
have no idea of where to go for help," she said. "Any patient who I can
help, I won't turn anyone away."

In addition to helping people find other alternative medicine methods from
acupuncture to visualization, she said, she'll help people meet doctors who
can evaluate them and sign off on their marijuana use, and then she'll help
them procure the medicine. She has studied the Oakland Cannabis Buyers
Cooperative's intake methods and plans to follow them closely, she said.

OCBC executive director Jeff Jones said he talked with Beal, much as he has
consulted many people establishing medical marijuana clubs statewide.
Beal's effort will complement his own, he said.

"I have never felt in a competitive realm with any other agency in
Oakland," Jones said. "The more the merrier, in a sense, because it betters
the patients' service. She represents a potential minority class of people
... that to my knowledge has not been represented well in Oakland by our
movement."

Oakland officials named OCBC an agent of the city in 1998, in hopes such
status would shield it from state and federal prosecution. Mike Nisperos,
the Oakland City Manager's public safety liaison, said this happened only
after OCBC was thoroughly checked and approved by city departments, from
police and fire to risk management and health.

Beal isn't seeking that kind of agency relationship with Oakland, he said.

"She seemed like a very genuine, sincere, nice woman, but she was not
established well enough to afford the kind of insurance the city would
require," he said. "And I don't know the city would be interested in
creating any new agency relationships until the pending litigation is
resolved."

Yet that doesn't necessarily make Beal's outfit less legitimate than
Jones', Nisperos said; the Justice Department shut the OCBC down, at least
pending the U.S. Supreme Court's decision.

"Having an agency relationship offers the OCBC no legal protection," he
said. "If having one doesn't do you any good, then not having one can't
hurt you, right?"

Oakland City Councilman Nate Miley, a longtime medical marijuana advocate
who takes an Alameda County Board of Supervisors seat next month, agreed.

"We don't have a problem with it -- groups of that nature are at their
liberty to set up in the city of Oakland," he said. "But if their practices
are not in line with proper local standards and laws, ... then they could
run into jeopardy of being shut down by the city. We wouldn't want to see
open smoking of marijuana or other nuisance-type things taking place."

If the Supreme Court rules medical necessity is a valid reason for the OCBC
to keep providing marijuana during its federal trial, "that's going to
provide a lot of authority for that club and other clubs emulating their
practices," Miley said.

"If the Supreme Court says 'no,' then it's going to be a lot tougher to
figure out what the next step will be."Clubs outside Oakland

A list of medical marijuana clubs compiled recently by the California
chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
(NORML) shows plenty of Bay Area options outside Oakland -- two are listed
in Berkeley, two in Marin County, one in Stockton, four in Santa Cruz and
seven in San Francisco.

Just as there are good and bad kinds of marijuana, there are also good and
bad pot clubs, said Robert Wilson, owner of the Hayward Hempery record and
clothing store on Foothill Boulevard. His medical marijuana club was shut
down by police Feb. 22 when officers raided a marijuana-growing operation
in the Hempery's building; no charges were filed against him.

"I'm kind of concerned about some of the clubs and their motivations," he said.

He wouldn't name any specific ones that give him pause, but Wilson said
he's worried some operators might be seeing a little too much green -- the
kind with presidents' faces: "Too many people are in it for the money."

Wilson said people should choose a marijuana provider as they would choose
a doctor. It's not necessarily about cost or convenience, but has more do
with "how you feel when you're there, how you're treated," he said. Good
places provide patient services such as support groups, access to good
physicians and advice to help people grow their own marijuana at
home.Security concern

Security is also a concern, Wilson said. Because they handle a lot of cash
and marijuana, medical marijuana clubs must be careful about who they let
inside and who they hire. He speaks from experience -- he was robbed twice
two years ago, and even started carrying a gun in his store for protection.

He fears new clubs will be reluctant to report crime, even when crooks look
to turn medical marijuana into a quick buck by reselling it on the street.
Club operators don't want to attract attention or show "weakness," Wilson said.

Since his club was raided, Hayward-area patients have had to buy street
drugs, go to clubs in other cities or rely on two local delivery services,
Wilson said. He has no plans to start another cooperative, but recently
sought a business license for a referral service called the Hayward Patient
Group. He'll advise patients on how to get doctors, which clubs to go to
and even how to get their own seeds.

"I'm helping more patients get their medicine now than I was a year ago,"
he said.

Hayward Police Chief Craig Calhoun said he does not want a medical
marijuana provider in his city, at least until the legal ambiguities are
ironed out by state and federal authorities.

"There's enough things on (the Police Department's) plate to deal with. We
don't want to add one more," he said.