MARIJUANA 'CLUBS' DEFY U.S. ORDER TO CLOSE

SAN FRANCISCO -- Seeking a showdown with the federal government, the
founders of three medical marijuana clubs in this area have defied orders
to shut down, hoping to place their fate in the hands of a jury. U.S.
District Court Judge Charles Breyer ordered six Northern California clubs
closed on May 13 as part of a civil case brought by the Department of
Justice, which accused the clubs of distributing marijuana in violation of
federal law.

Three outlets closed voluntarily. But clubs in Oakland, San Francisco and
Marin County have remained open since the ruling, purposely inviting
contempt of court charges, the clubs' owners said. Such charges would allow
the owners to demand a federal jury trial in California, where voters in
1996 approved a ballot issue legalizing marijuana for medical use. "I'd
trust a jury of Californians more than federal bureaucrats in Washington,"
said one of the owners, Jeffrey Jones, who directs a marijuana outlet in
Oakland. Jones invited print and television reporters on Thursday to watch
him sell marijuana to customers in an overt challenge to the federal
government.

The San Francisco club, founded by Dennis Peron, who was a co-author of the
1996 ballot issue, also defied the federal court order, selling cartons of
marijuana to its 8,000 members throughout last week. After the 1996 vote,
at least 20 clubs sprang up around the state for the declared purpose of
distributing marijuana to help people fight the debilitating effects of
cancer, AIDS and other illnesses. Critics say the law did not cover mass
distribution of the drug. Possession of marijuana still violates federal
law, which takes precedence over state statutes. Michael Yamaguchi, the
U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, has described the
federal government's civil suit as representing a "measured approach"
against California marijuana clubs. A Justice Department spokesman declined
to comment on how the agency would respond to the defiance by the clubs,
but did not rule out bringing separate criminal drug indictments against
the club owners.

Federal agents raided a ranch rented by Peron north of San Francisco on May
15, pulling up at least 200 marijuana plants but making no arrests.

A San Francisco Superior Court judge declared Peron's San Francisco club "a
public nuisance" on Thursday, ordering sheriff's deputies to close the
club's five-story building.

The state rulings come out of a 1996 civil suit brought by Attorney General
Daniel Lungren, a Republican candidate for governor and California's most
vocal critic of medical marijuana.

San Francisco's district attorney, Terence Hallinan, has sharply criticized
the attorney general's opposition to the law, and is part of a coalition of
elected officials who have suggested replacing the clubs with a
state-sponsored distribution system.

The group has scheduled a hearing on May 26 in the state Capitol to discuss
adding such a proposal to a related Senate bill that is now under
consideration.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski