S.D. NARCOTICS POLICE TARGET CANNABIS CLUB ORGANIZER

Medical Marijuana Activist McWilliams Arrested

Steve McWilliams, founder and organizer of the Shelter from the Storm
Cannabis Collective in Hillcrest, was arrested Tuesday, July 6 at 3780
Fifth Avenue in Hillcrest, which served as the headquarters of his
medicinal marijuana operation as well as his home. Also arrested was a
member of the collective identified only as Tom. McWilliams, who has
suffered from head, neck and shoulder injuries since being involved in
vehicle accidents in 1986 and 1992, moved to California from his native
Colorado in 1996 to take part in the campaign to pass California's
medicinal marijuana law, Proposition 215, and at the time of his arrest was
already on probation from an earlier charge stemming from an arrest by
North County sheriffs deputies in January 1998.

"My neighbor Kathleen motioned to me that we had guests at the gate, and
they were from the San Diego Police Department," McWilliams said regarding
the July 6 arrest, "I showed them the information posted on the gate, which
explained how our club operated and that we had complied with the law. We
also showed them a letter of support we had received from City
Councilmember Christine Kehoe. Having said all that, and not having Fourth
Amendment protection [like most people who receive probation for
drugrelated offenses, McWilliams had had to give up his Constitutional
protection against warrantless searches and seizures as part of his
probation conditions], I invited the police in, showed them the patients'
name tags on the outdoor plants and stated that each person had a doctor's
recommendation to use marijuana medicinally."

McWilliams said he attempted to explain to the officers that each marijuana
plant at his facility belonged to an individual medical marijuana user;
that each user was responsible for caring for his or her own plants, and
all paid monthiy dues to be allowed to use the collective's growing
equipment. McWilliams also told the officers that Judge Kenneth So, who had
sentenced him to probation on April 20, 1999 for the case initiated over
year earlier, had specifically ruled from the bench that McWilliams had a
right to use marjuana and grow it for his own consumption.

"In spite of everything, the police and the Narcotics Task Force pulled the
plants out by the roots, destroyed the plants, pulled out the name tags
identifying each plant as an individual patient's property, and
photographed it all," McWilliams said. "I was seized and handcuffed by the
police for lighting up a pipe and using marijuana. I was physically
punished by having my hands pinned bebind my back, just for trying to use
my medicine. I was truly amazed by the malicious nature of the police
officers. They reveled in our misery, enjoyed destroying the plants and had
disdain for the Compassionate Use Act [Proposition 215] and for us as the
scum of the earth."

The team of officers that arrested McWilliams and seized the cooperative's
plants and growing equipment was ted by a plainclothes officer who
identified himself only as Sgt. Salgado. When asked by the media
representatives at the scene film crews from TV channels 10 and 51 as well
as Zenger's to comment, Sgt. Salgado denied that the action against
McWilliams constituted a "raid." He said it was merely an "investigation,"
and his main priority was to make sure the TV crew did not film the faces
of his officers as they were confiscating the plants and growing equipment.
Also participating were uniformed police officer Gary MePhee and three
other police persnnel, another uniformed male officer and two other
plainclothes officers, one male and one female.

Zenger's inquiries about the McWilliams arrest were ultenately referred to
Lt. Carl Black of the Narcotics Task Force, who said, "Realty, the only
thing I can comment on is we simply responded to a citizen's complaint
about narcotics activity. We had no knowledge that we would be arresting
him at the time we went to investigate the narcotics complaint. After we
got there and subsequently did an investigation that led us to believe that
he was involved in growing a great deal of marijuana plants. That's what
led to his arrest. He wasn't arrested for smoking marijuana."

Though Black's comments suggeest that the police believed all the pIants on
the premises were McWilliam's property, at least one other Shelter from the
Storm member, Phil Hanson, said he had received a call from a police
detective the day after McWilliams arrest.

Hanson, who was diagnosed with AIDS in1994 and said he uses marijuana to
stimulate his appetite and control nausea from his HIV medications, told
Zenger's, "I was sitting here and a man called who identified himself as a
detective from downtown. He asked me if I were part of the cannabis club
and how many plants I had there. I said 20 to 25. He asked me if I grew
at home and I said no. I told him I felt bad about the raid and he said
'It wasn't a raid. They were breaking the law.' I said that we weren 't
breaking the law because we were all medicinal marijuana users under
Proposition 215, and he said, 'That's not a legitimate law."

Asked to comment on Hanson's account, Lt Black said, "Obviously, we do
consider [Proposition 215] a legitimate law. That's the official stance of
the San Diego Police Department. I can't imagine one of my detectives
making that comment. But I wasn't there, so I don't know what happened.

McWilliams said he was particularly disappointed that he was arrested just
one day after the Los Angeles Times reported that the statewide Medical
Marijuana Tark Force, representing law-enforcement officials as well as
medical marijuana activists and providers, had completed its report and
sent its recommendations to the state Assembly for legislative action. The
Task Force recommendation would basically do on a statewide level what
several cities and counties in California have already done: establish a
registry of medical marijuana users and give them identification cards they
could show to police officers to prove they have a legal right to use
marijuana. McWilliams and some of his supporters suggested that the arrest
was a "retaliatory attack" aimed at shutting down his club before the state
legislature had a chance to clarify tie law and set terms under which
McWilliams could operate his club legally.

"I can absolutely tell you that that is false," Lt. Black told Zenger's. "I
can understand his group's concern, but at the time we made the arrest we
weren't even knowledgeable that the state [task force] had come to an
agreement. It was just coincidence."