FEDERAL RULING WILL ALLOW OAKLAND DISTRIBUTOR TO OPERATE

OAKLAND, Calif. - As activists praise a federal judge's
decision clearing the way for an Oakland club to distribute marijuana
for medicinal purposes, Wayne Johnson hopes it will help him avoid the
risk of buying it on the street.

"I REALLY appreciate it," said Johnson, who suffers from chronic back
pain.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer on Monday modified a 1998 order
forbidding marijuana sales at the Oakland Cannabis Buyers'
Cooperative, saying the government hasn't proven why seriously ill
patients should be denied the drug.

"It's a historic day," said Jeff Jones, executive director of the
co-op.

John Entwhistle, spokesman for the group that wrote Proposition 215,
the 1996 ballot measure authorizing medical marijuana, called the
decision a beginning. "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."

STATE VS. FEDS

Justice Department spokeswoman Gretchen Michael said officials are
reviewing the decision.

It is the latest development in a years-old conflict between federal
drug regulations and Proposition 215, which has been tangled up in
court since California voters approved it.

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.

Similar measures have passed in Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Maine,
Nevada, Oregon and Washington state.

NARROW RULING

In allowing the Oakland club to operate, Breyer modified an injunction
he issued in 1998 that shut down that club and five others. He noted
that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ordered
him to consider an exemption for patients who face imminent harm and
have no effective legal alternative to marijuana. The Oakland club was
the only one that had appealed.

Johnson, 48, was at the club's storefront headquarters Monday
afternoon to buy rolling papers. He has been using marijuana to
alleviate pain from a back injury following a car accident.

When the club closed, he tried to get friends to buy it for him. When
they balked, he went out himself, but never got used to buying on the
street.

"This helps a lot of people," he said.