OFFICIALS TO APPEAL MEDICINAL 'POT' RULING

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Justice Department will appeal a court ruling that
cleared the way for an Oakland club to distribute marijuana for medicinal
purposes, according to documents filed Tuesday by Assistant U.S. Attorney
Mark Quinlivan. Quinlivan declined to comment.

Under last week's federal court ruling, the Oakland Cannabis Buyers'
Cooperative could provide marijuana to people facing imminent harm from
serious medical conditions, and for whom legal alternatives to marijuana
don't work or cause intolerable side effects.

Proposition 215, passed by California voters in 1996, allows seriously ill
patients to grow and use marijuana for pain relief, with a doctor's
recommendation, without state penalties. But federal law says marijuana has
no medical purpose and cannot be administered safely under medical
supervision.

Initiatives similar to California's have passed in Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii,
Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state.