CALIF. MARIJUANA CLUB SHUTS UNDER COURT ORDER

October 19, 1998 OAKLAND, Calif. — A large crowd of cancer and AIDS
patients rallied peacefully Monday as the largest of California's
remaining medical marijuana clubs shut its doors under court order.

The Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative closed after a federal
appeals court refused to grant an emergency stay of a lower court's
ruling that said the club was violating federal narcotics laws by
distributing marijuana.

Opting to cooperate with federal marshals before the deadline to shut
the facility, club officials removed boxes of files and locked the
doors to the bright, downtown Oakland offices that resemble a pharmacy.

Jeff Jones, executive director of the club, expressed concern for the
welfare of the more than 2,000 club members who use the drug to
alleviate pain and sickness.

He also vowed to continue the legal fight to reopen the facility under
the terms of the 1996 voter-approved state law that legalized medical
marijuana use, and he blasted the Justice Department's attempts to
override the will of California voters.

"Not only do we fear for our patients, but 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 said.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Monday refused to grant a stay
of the injunction issued last week by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer.

Breyer, while noting that closing the club would likely cause "human
suffering,'' said Tuesday that club lawyers had failed to demonstrate
that enforcing a federal ban on marijuana distribution would violate
the constitutional right of sick people to relieve excruciating pain —
a cornerstone of the medical marijuana movement's legal strategy.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry