COURT RULES CLUB CAN DISTRIBUTE MARIJUANA TO ILL

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge cleared the way yesterday for an Oakland
club to distribute marijuana for medicinal purposes, saying the government
hasn't proved why seriously ill patients should be denied the drug.

The groundbreaking decision will allow the Oakland Cannabis Buyers'
Cooperative to provide cannabis to members who face imminent harm from a
serious medical condition and have found that legal alternatives to
marijuana don't work or cause intolerable side effects.

"We believe this is the tip of the iceberg," said John Entwhistle, a
spokesman for Californians for Compassionate Use, the lobbying group that
wrote the state's medical marijuana initiative, known as Proposition 215.
"We think at least the feds are starting to recognize the strength and
reality of the medical necessity of using marijuana as medicine, at least
for certain conditions."

Justice Department spokeswoman Gretchen Michael said officials were
reviewing the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Charles R. Breyer. She
had no further comment yesterday.

Breyer hinted during a hearing Friday that he would modify an injunction he
issued in 1998, noting that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had
ordered him to consider an exemption for patients who face imminent harm
and have no effective legal alternative to marijuana. Breyer issued his
written ruling yesterday.

The appellate court, in its September ruling, found the government had
failed to rebut evidence that cannabis is the only effective treatment for
a large group of seriously ill patients.

In lieu of any new arguments showing why it would not be in the public's
interest to exempt some patients from federal narcotics laws, Breyer said
he had little choice.

"The government continues to press arguments which the 9th Circuit
rejected, including the argument that the court must find that enjoining
the distribution of cannabis to seriously ill individuals is in the public
interest," Breyer wrote. "As a result of the government's failure to offer
any new evidence . . . the court must conclude that modifying the
injunction as requested is in the public interest."

Club members receiving medical marijuana must:

Suffer from a serious medical condition.

Face "imminent harm" if they do not have access to cannabis.

Need cannabis for treatment of a medical condition or to alleviate symptoms
associated with a condition.

Have no reasonable legal alternative to cannabis for the effective
treatment or alleviation of a medical condition or symptoms.

The victory for the Oakland club is the latest development in a years-old
conflict between federal narcotics regulations and Proposition 215, which
has been tangled up in court since California voters approved it in 1996.

The state initiative allows seriously ill patients to grow and use
marijuana for pain relief, with a doctor's recommendation, without being
prosecuted under state law. But federal law says marijuana has no medical
purpose and cannot be administered safely under medical supervision.

The Justice Department initially sued the Oakland club and five others in
Northern California in an attempt to shut them down. Breyer's modification
partially exempts the Oakland club -- the only one to appeal -- from his
injunction to close it.

Measures similar to California's initiative have passed in Alaska, Arizona,
Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state, and Entwhistle said
Breyer's ruling is the latest sign that the federal government's position
is weakening.

"They used to be the wolf at the door. But now they've been pushed away,"
he said, adding that his group expects the issue to be ultimately decided
by the U.S. Supreme Court.

"This is the beginning of something very big. It recognizes something we
knew all along," he said. "We believe the Supreme Court justices, and
anybody in federal court, will see the truth behind the use of marijuana.
This drug saves lives."

In Oakland, the news was met with equal optimism yesterday at the Cannabis
Club.

"It's an historic day," said Jeffrey Jones, the owner and lead defendant in
the lawsuit. "For the first time in our nation's history, the Controlled
Substance Act . . . has been pierced in a way that allows a controlled
substance to be given out in a federally exempt way."