SHERIFF SHUTS DOWN S.F. CANNABIS CENTER

Deputies Lock It Up, Seize Office Contents Despite Protesters

San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey moved on the Cannabis Healing
Center early Monday morning, shutting the club and taking everything that
wasn't nailed down.

Confronted by protesters, sheriff's deputies locked the club, which was
ordered shut by court order.

Hennessey said he had no choice but to obey a ruling by San Francisco
Superior Court Judge William Cahill, issued Thursday, that ordered the club
shut within five days.

Hennessey is a supporter of Proposition 215, the California ballot measure
that legalized the use of medical marijuana for people with AIDS, cancer
and other diseases.

Cahill's ruling said the club is a public nuisance, not a primary caregiver
authorized to provide marijuana to sick patients.

The ruling came three days after a U.S. District Court judge ordered six
Bay Area cannabis clubs to close, saying federal drug laws supersede Prop.
215.

The club had closed as the Cannabis Buyers Club and its leader Dennis Peron
stepped down recently. After closing, the club was renamed and reopened 24
hours laters as the Cannabis Healing Center.

Hennessey had remained mum on when his department would carry out the
order, saying only that it directed him to close down the club before 5
p.m. Tuesday.

1998 San Francisco Examiner Page A 4