END MAY BE NEAR FOR EMBATTLED CALIF. MARIJUANA CLUBS

OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) - The end may be near for California's embattled
medical marijuana movement.

In a surprise injunction, a federal judge this week ordered the state's
most respected medical marijuana club to close by Friday for violating
federal narcotics laws.

And the two other clubs still struggling to distribute the drug under the
terms of California's 1996 state law which legalized medical marijuana use
are under similar pressure.

In an emergency news conference called Wednesday, Oakland city officials
and patients of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative said U.S. District
Judge Charles Breyer's decision against the club would have a devastating
effect.

``Closing the cooperative will force patients with AIDS, cancer and other
debilitating diseases to turn to street dealers for the medicine they
need,'' said Oakland City Council member Nate Miley.

``This decision will have a devastating impact on our patients and our city
and we will fight it every step of the way.''

Breyer's decision issued late Tuesday ordered the Oakland club to close by
Friday or face forcible closure by federal marshals. While lawyers say they
plan to appeal the decision, it marks a shattering defeat in their long
effort to uphold the clubs' right to provide marijuana to sick people.

Breyer, while noting that closing the club would likely cause ``human
suffering,'' said 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.

The order to close the Oakland club came as a particular blow. Boasting
some 2,000 members and bright, downtown 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.

That law, which allowed patients to use marijuana under a doctor's
prescription, drew immediate fire from federal officials, who have mounted
a legal campaign to shut the medical marijuana clubs for violating federal
narcotics laws.

Ten of an original 13 clubs up and down the state have already closed under
the federal pressure. But three clubs, including the Oakland group and
another in northern California's Marin County, have continued to operate
while they fight on in court.

Breyer's ruling said the Oakland club had violated an injunction issued
earlier this year which directed it to stop distributing marijuana to
patients who say it eases nausea, wasting, and chronic pain associated with
cancer, AIDS, chemotherapy, and other conditions.

He also ordered lawyers for the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in
Fairfax to schedule a jury trial to determine whether their group had
violated the same injunction.

Lawyers for the Oakland club vowed to fight Breyer's order, which they said
was based on a ``legal technicality''.

``Even though our members testified that medical cannabis has actually
saved their lives, they didn't say they would die tomorrow without medical
cannabis,'' said lawyer Robert Raich.

``As a result, over 2,000 people may lose their access to a necessary and
life-saving medicine.''

But with legal clouds gathering, medical marijuana supporters are already
considering their fallback positions.

Oakland officials have said in the past that if the federal government shut
the club, they would consider taking on the job of marijuana distribution
themselves - becoming the first municipality in the country to distribute
the drug.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson