PATRONS SAY GOODBYE TO OAKLAND POT CLUB

The sick who smoke marijuana to soothe what ails them won't be getting
their leafy medicine from Oakland's downtown pot club anymore -- a
federal appeals court panel on Monday refused a request to keep the
club open.

But almost everyone at the raucous, sometimes teary farewell to the
2,200-member club Monday evening figured they'd still get their
medical fix, either by scoring on the streets -- a somewhat dangerous
proposition -- or by tapping into an expected underground network of
former pot club members.

Jeff Jones, president of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, said
the club's stash is in safekeeping with members of the cooperative.
And he expects many to be able to provide for themselves as the club's
public arm tries to form a political action committee to fight for the
right of the sick who want to smoke.

``Who am I to stop the patients from helping themselves?'' Jones said
in a news conference outside the club's Broadway offices.

The club's closing is a sizable victory for the federal government,
which has been trying to override Proposition 215 since it was
approved in November 1996. The ballot measure approved medicinal
marijuana for patients with a doctor's recommendation.

Voters, by a majority of 56 percent, apparently agreed with
Proposition 215 advocates who said marijuana could help stimulate
appetites for cancer and AIDS patients, and that it generally offers a
pain-dulling alternative to harsher, legal narcotics.

But federal law supersedes state law, and federal law says
distributing marijuana, even for medicinal reasons, is a crime. The
Clinton administration in January sued the Oakland cooperative and
several other clubs, aiming to drive them out of business.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer rejected the club's
argument that the government's ban on medicinal marijuana violates
patients' constitutional rights to relieve pain. On Monday, a panel of
the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to extend Breyer's
deadline for the club to shut down.

Federal prosecutors could not be reached for comment.

``We are bitterly disappointed for the voters of the state of
California who have had their votes nullified today by the efforts of
a heavy-handed and misguided federal government,'' Jones told
reporters, as about 40 pot club supporters held aloft protest signs
and alternately listened, cheered and chanted. ``Many of those I have
come to know as patients and as friends since I opened this
organization almost two years ago will suffer unnecessary pain and
suffering without the Oakland CBC.''

While it is clear some sort of underground distribution is in the
works, it is not clear how many will be able to benefit from it. And
that, for club supporters, was sobering.

Robert Raich, the club's attorney, said the ruling, in effect, is a
death warrant for some.

``There are people who are going to die as a result of this,'' Raich
said of Breyer's ruling. ``And he doesn't really seem to care about
that.''

The club still has two appeals pending, although no one seems overly
optimistic about their chances. Also, Raich said the club might try to
persuade Breyer to let it operate some of its other services -- such
as pot cultivation classes, massage therapy or support groups.

Jones said the group will reform as Patient Action Now, a political
action committee that will lobby the White House and Congress to get
marijuana off the controlled-substances list.

Tonight, the Oakland City Council, which has strongly backed the
Oakland cooperative, will also consider declaring a state of emergency
now that the club has been shuttered. While not legally binding on
federal agents, the resolution would show how seriously the city takes
the government's actions, Raich said.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry