OAKLAND DECLARES EMERGENCY AFTER POT CLUB ORDERED TO CLOSE

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- A public health emergency was declared after a
federal court closed the city's medical marijuana club, leaving 2,200
patients with no legal source for the drug they say quells the pain of AIDS
and cancer.

Tuesday night's 5-4 City Council vote, believed to be the first of its kind,
allows officials to develop other means of selling marijuana to people who
can no longer get the drug at the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative.

"We're definitely making history," said Jeff Jones, executive director of
the club. "It's another time the city has come out and allowed patients to
keep their rights."

San Francisco and Berkeley have previously declared medical emergencies to
allow distribution of intravenous needles to drug users to curb the spread
of HIV. But no other city has passed such a measure to allow use of
marijuana for medical reasons.

"It's going to be devastating," said Dave Fratello of the closure. His
group, Americans for Medical Rights, sponsored Proposition 215, the 1996
ballot measure that legalized marijuana use for medical reasons in
California.

"Many people don't know where to go and other people are going to get ripped
off," Fratello said earlier this week.

Proposition 215 allows patients and caregivers to possess and grow marijuana
without prosecution under California law, as long as a doctor has
recommended the drug to relieve pain from AIDS or cancer treatment, glaucoma
or other conditions.

The Justice Department and state Attorney General Dan Lungren have
repeatedly gone to court to block the law, and Mayor Elihu Harris, who cast
the deciding vote, acknowledged that their declaration is just a "symbolic
gesture."

It won't mean the club will reopen, and the council seemed wary about the
city getting into the distribution business itself. But some council members
were determined to send a message.

"We still have an AIDS epidemic, and medical marijuana has been proven to
help relieve some of the suffering," said Councilman Nate Miley, who
sponsored the declaration. "Why is the federal government interfering with
the will of the people?"

One possible alternative would be to set aside city property for growing and
harvesting marijuana by patients with doctor's recommendations, Jones said.
It would be less likely that the city would hire people to distribute the
drug.

When U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer issued an injunction in May barring
six Northern California clubs from distributing marijuana, Oakland city
officials designated marijuana club officials as city agents, invoking a
federal law that protects state and local officers from liability while
enforcing drug laws.

But Breyer said the club was violating the law, not enforcing it.

The club closed down on Monday after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
rejected a request to stay open while attorneys appeal a federal judge's
ruling that the club was in contempt of court for continuing to distribute
pot.

Club customers said their needs are urgent.

"Marijuana allows me to sleep, allows me to eat," observed Ken Estes, a
quadriplegic who had purchased pot at the club. "Without marijuana, I'd be
dead."

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst