OAKLAND TO SUPPLY MARIJUANA OFFICIALLY

AIM IS A DEFENSE FROM PROSECUTION

OAKLAND, Calif. - The City of Oakland named the first ``official''
marijuana supply agency in the country yesterday, breaking new ground in
the legal battle over California's 1996 medical marijuana law. At a
ceremony at Oakland City Hall, officials proclaimed staff of the Oakland
Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative to be ``officers of the city.'' This move is
intended to shield them from federal prosecution, although its legal
foundations were not clear.

Oakland officials said the new designation should thwart federal efforts to
close the club. California voters passed a state law in 1996 legalizing
medical marijuana use, but federal prosecutors have sued to close the
clubs, saying their operations violate federal narcotics laws. While a
number of northern California medical marijuana clubs have folded under the
legal pressure, Oakland's cannabis cooperative has continued to operate,
distributing the drug to 1,800 people to treat symptoms of AIDS, cancer and
other serious illnesses.

``The Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative runs a clean, legitimate
business, contributes to Oakland's downtown revitalization, and prevents
seriously ill people from turning to the streets to buy their medicine,''
said Vice Mayor Nate Miley, who chairs the city council's Public Safety
Committee. ``We're delighted to offer the cooperative all the support we
can, and hope that other cities will follow suit.'' While the new ``city
officer'' designation does not mean the club members are now city
employees, it does extend potentially powerful legal protection to them.
Under the Federal Controlled Substances Act, ``city officers,'' a term
usually taken to mean undercover law enforcement agents, cannot be
prosecuted for selling controlled drugs within the scope of their official
duties. Now, city officials hope, that designation will allow the cannabis
club to distribute marijuana to critically ill patients from its tidy,
pharmacy-like downtown offices.

``This designation will permit the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative to
distribute medical cannabis within federal law,'' said Professor Gerald
Uelmen of the University of Santa Clara School of Law, who has served as a
legal adviser to the club.

``That means the federal government has no case. The lawsuit against the
cooperative should be dropped today.'' Federal officials had no immediate
comment on Oakland's move, the first by any city in the country to name
what amounts to an official marijuana supply agency. ``We're aware of the
decision, and we are in the process of reviewing it. Any comment that we
might have would be made in court,'' said Gregory King, a spokesman for the
Justice Department.

Oakland officials, said, however, that they were aware that the city's
effort to protect the cannabis club might not stop the federal suit. City
lawyers will ask that it be dismissed on Friday.

``What we are trying to do is basically, as a city, set up a system to
distribute medical marijuana to those in need,'' said Joe de Vries, an aide
to Miley. ``If that's not good enough, we'll go the next step. And maybe
then everybody at the club will receive a City of Oakland paycheck.''

Checked-by: Pat Dolan