OAKLAND'S EFFORT TO SHIELD POT CLUB REJECTED

SAN FRANCISCO--A federal judge on Monday rejected Oakland's attempt to
shield its medical marijuana club from federal drug laws the immediate
shutdown of clubs in Oakland and two other cities.

Instead, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said he may allow a jury to
decide whether patients at the clubs need marijuana to relieve pain and
survive treatment for cancer, AIDS and other illnesses.

Breyer rejected a request by the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative to
dismiss the federal government's suit and a motion by the government to
declare the clubs in contempt of court and close them without a trial. The
other two clubs are in Ukiah and the Marin County community of Fairfax.

The judge tentatively scheduled a hearing for Sept. 28 on whether there
should be a trial, and allowed the clubs to remain open at least until
then.

The clubs sprang up throughout California after passage of Proposition 215,
the November 1996 initiative that allows seriously ill patients to grow and
use marijuana for pain relief with a doctor's recommendation without being
prosecuted under state law.

But many of the clubs have been shut down through the efforts of Atty. Gen.
Dan Lungren, who obtained state court rulings limiting the scope of
Proposition 215, and the Clinton administration's Justice Department, which
sued six clubs to enforce federal laws against marijuana distribution.

Breyer issued an injunction in May prohibiting the six Northern California
clubs from distributing marijuana while the government's suit was pending.
Three of the clubs have remained open, including the Oakland club, which
says it has 2,000 members.

The club had hoped to win immunity from federal prosecution as a result of
Oakland's apparently unprecedented action Aug. 13, previously authorized by
the City Council, declaring club officials to be city agents who were
distributing marijuana to patients on the city's behalf.

In court, the club invoked a federal drug law that protects state and local
officers from legal liability while legally enforcing drug-related laws.
That law was intended to shield police from prosecution for undercover drug
transactions, but its wording also covers city agents who distribute
medical marijuana, argued Gerald Uelmen, a Santa Clara University law
professor representing the club.

"We're not dealing with a subversive effort to undercut the government's
drug war," Uelmen said. "This is a careful and good-faith effort to
implement the will of the people, consistent with federal law." Breyer
called the argument "creative" but "not persuasive."

Copyright 1998 Los Angeles Times.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson