MARIJUANA CLUB GETS A REPRIEVE

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Hours before California's most prominent medical
marijuana club was due to shut its doors, a federal judge Friday
allowed it to remain open for a few more days.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer granted a stay of an injunction he
issued earlier this week against the Oakland Cannabis Buyers'
Cooperative, allowing the club to remain open until the close of
business Monday.

Breyer granted the stay after attorneys for the club filed an appeal
against his injunction, which ordered the club to close by Friday for
violating federal narcotics laws.

The Oakland establishment is one of three in California still
struggling to distribute the drug under the terms of Proposition 215,
the voter-approved state law that legalized medical marijuana use.

Breyer 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.

Boasting some 2,000 members and offices that resemble a pharmacy, the
Oakland cooperative has been repeatedly praised by health officials as
one of the most responsible marijuana distribution organizations to
emerge since voters passed the state law in 1996.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry